148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery Royal Artillery
Encyclopedia
148 Commando Forward Observation Battery is a specialist Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observation (NGSFO) unit within 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery
of 3 Commando Brigade
Royal Marines
.
The unit provides Fire Support Teams (FST - formerly called Forward Observation parties) to control and co-ordinate Naval fires (naval gunfire support
, naval air delivered guided and unguided munitions) from Royal Navy
and allied ships, land based air delivered munitions and artillery
fire from the gun batteries of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, when ashore in support of 3 Commando Brigade. In support of this role, the battery provides FSTs to the Royal Navy when conducting training on a variety of gunnery ranges around the world.
148 Battery's FSTs comprise gunners of the Royal Artillery, already qualified members of the regiment when posted into the battery, augmented by Royal Navy communications personnel (signallers) who are required to undergo the All Arms Commando Course
. All personnel within the battery are also parachute trained.
The battery is supported by a Battery Fitter Section from 29 Regiment's attached Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Workshop, also commando qualified.
The battery and its Battery Fitter Section are based at Royal Marines Poole
in Dorset
, co-located with the Special Boat Service
and 1 Assault Group Royal Marines
.
.
The battery consists of HQ personnel, Fire Support Teams and administrative and logistical support personnel.
FSTs consist of five men; a patrol commander of the Royal Artillery
(RA), either Captain or Sergeant, with a Bombardier
as the second in command (2IC). The rest of the team consists of a (Royal Navy) communicator, RA Lance Bombardier, and Gunner. The team can be split in two with the Bombardier commanding one team and the Captain the other. All unit members are capable of co-ordinating air strikes and directing artillery fire.
, and basic parachute course. After Commando qualification, unless already Observation Post qualified, they then undergo six months of basic Gunnery Control training and Observation Post operations. Personnel are trained in infiltration and exfiltration, covert observation, target identification and location, voice and data communications,adjusting gunfire from both afloat and ashore, and Forward Air Control (FAC) techniques. Upon completion of the course the new Naval Gunfire Assistant (NGA) will be assigned to a Forward Observation team for a probationary period.
The unit conducts training in various exercises and climates including Mountain and Arctic, Jungle, Desert and temperate. It regularly deploys with Royal Marines units to Norway
for annual cold weather warfare training and to Belize
for jungle warfare training. Given the similar skillsets there is a level of training with the USMC
's Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company
(ANGLICO) and Netherlands Marine Corps
Marine Joint Effects Observer Groups to standardise procedures to assure interoperability.
and GPS location.
Personal weapons are the L85A2
, with the L7 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMGs) and M-249 Minimi
as support fire weapons.
at Royal Marines Poole
. It was tasked with providing FO teams to the Royal Marines, the Parachute Regiment; the ACE Mobile Force (Land) (AMF(L)) and the SBS. The smaller sized unit soon found it was unable to meet its many obligations.
and SBS. The skills of the Commando
-trained unit were in high demand as commanders re-discovered their usefulness. FO teams were relocated about the islands as the British advanced on the capital at Port Stanley.
Three British civilians in Port Stanley were killed by British naval gunfire controlled by the unit, when a ships' gun beacon MIP radar malfunctioned. The three women were sheltering in a part of the town which the FO team officer had been briefed was free of civilians. The FO team were themselves in a very exposed position to the north of the town. The FO officer calculated the ship's error, but the ship's computer system did not indicate anything wrong, so after three rounds were fired the FO officer dismissed the ship from the firing line. The ship's weapons staff spent the next 24 hours going through their system, and discovered their radar had not locked onto the correct datum point, creating an error in firing equal to that calculated by the FO officer. The Argentine military command were very quick to announce this error as a deliberate act of aggression towards the Islanders. The FO team, which was still conducting covert reconnaissance and bombardment, learned of the tragedy from the BBC World Service.
FO teams called artillery fire and air strikes onto Argentine positions in support of every major British assault. With the Argentine surrender, the unit returned to their home in Poole.
and later assisted in the Scud missile hunt.
. On the first night of Op TELIC 1 the unit suffered its first deaths of the war where a US Marine helicopter carrying a joint 148 Bty party and a other members of the BRF crashed close to the Iraq Border. The unit was attached to 42 Commando RM. The Battery provided Forward Observation support to HMS MARLBOROUGH, HMS CHATHAM, HMAS ANZAC and to the 105mm gun batteries of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
of 3 Commando Brigade
3 Commando Brigade
3 Commando Brigade is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces and the main manoeuvre formation of the Royal Marines. Its personnel are predominantly Royal Marines, supported by units of Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, The Rifles, and the Fleet Air Arm, together with other Commando...
Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
.
The unit provides Fire Support Teams (FST - formerly called Forward Observation parties) to control and co-ordinate Naval fires (naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...
, naval air delivered guided and unguided munitions) from Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and allied ships, land based air delivered munitions and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
fire from the gun batteries of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, when ashore in support of 3 Commando Brigade. In support of this role, the battery provides FSTs to the Royal Navy when conducting training on a variety of gunnery ranges around the world.
148 Battery's FSTs comprise gunners of the Royal Artillery, already qualified members of the regiment when posted into the battery, augmented by Royal Navy communications personnel (signallers) who are required to undergo the All Arms Commando Course
All Arms Commando Course
The All Arms Commando Course lasts for 9 weeks and is run by the Royal Marines at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines , Lympstone. Members from any of the United Kingdom's Regular Armed Forces and overseas exchange personnel can attend in order to serve with 3 Commando Brigade...
. All personnel within the battery are also parachute trained.
The battery is supported by a Battery Fitter Section from 29 Regiment's attached Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from Challenger II main battle tanks and WAH64 Apache...
Workshop, also commando qualified.
The battery and its Battery Fitter Section are based at Royal Marines Poole
Royal Marines Poole
Royal Marines Poole is a British naval base in Poole, England and is the centre for the Royal Marines and Royal Navy amphibious and riverine activities.-History:...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, co-located with the Special Boat Service
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
and 1 Assault Group Royal Marines
1 Assault Group Royal Marines
1 Assault Group Royal Marines provides the Royal Marines expertise and training in small boat operations both amphibious and riverine. In addition it trains and parents the Assault Squadrons of the Royal Marines and their Landing Craft detachments...
.
Battery structure
The battery is formed into a number of Fire Support Teams (FSTs), operating ashore or in advance of the Forward Edge of Battle Area, to observe and identify candidate targets, conduct preliminary Battle Damage Assessment, adjust fire or provide target illumination for laser guided weaponsLaser-guided bomb
A laser-guided bomb is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser homing to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided bomb. LGBs are one of the most common and widespread guided bombs, used by a large number of the world's air forces.- Overview :Laser-guided munitions use a...
.
The battery consists of HQ personnel, Fire Support Teams and administrative and logistical support personnel.
FSTs consist of five men; a patrol commander of the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
(RA), either Captain or Sergeant, with a Bombardier
Bombardier (rank)
Bombardier is a rank used in artillery units in the armies of Commonwealth countries instead of corporal. Lance-bombardier is used instead of lance-corporal....
as the second in command (2IC). The rest of the team consists of a (Royal Navy) communicator, RA Lance Bombardier, and Gunner. The team can be split in two with the Bombardier commanding one team and the Captain the other. All unit members are capable of co-ordinating air strikes and directing artillery fire.
Selection and introductory training
Volunteers for the battery must first complete the All Arms Commando CourseAll Arms Commando Course
The All Arms Commando Course lasts for 9 weeks and is run by the Royal Marines at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines , Lympstone. Members from any of the United Kingdom's Regular Armed Forces and overseas exchange personnel can attend in order to serve with 3 Commando Brigade...
, and basic parachute course. After Commando qualification, unless already Observation Post qualified, they then undergo six months of basic Gunnery Control training and Observation Post operations. Personnel are trained in infiltration and exfiltration, covert observation, target identification and location, voice and data communications,adjusting gunfire from both afloat and ashore, and Forward Air Control (FAC) techniques. Upon completion of the course the new Naval Gunfire Assistant (NGA) will be assigned to a Forward Observation team for a probationary period.
Continuation and unit training
Once an NGA has completed probation the candidate may be selected to undergo further amphibious training beyond that of AACC. During amphibious training, NGA's are trained in over-water parachute infiltration. Training is also conducted in Small/Fast Boat Coxswains; Small/Fast Boat operations and long-range surface navigation. Much of the training is conducted at night with this being the preferred time for covert infiltration and exfiltration. One team member (the team medic) is also cross trained as a combat medical technician with additional medical training in BATLS (Battlefield Advanced Trauama Life Support) BARTs (Battlefield Advanced Resuscitation).The unit conducts training in various exercises and climates including Mountain and Arctic, Jungle, Desert and temperate. It regularly deploys with Royal Marines units to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
for annual cold weather warfare training and to Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
for jungle warfare training. Given the similar skillsets there is a level of training with the USMC
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
's Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company
Air-Naval Gunfire Liaison Company
ANGLICO refers to several small units of the United States Marine Corps who specialize in coordinating artillery, naval gunfire and close air support for the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, Army, and allied armed forces. ANGLICO serve as liaison units by providing capabilities normally contained only...
(ANGLICO) and Netherlands Marine Corps
Netherlands Marine Corps
The Korps Mariniers is the marine corps and amphibious infantry component of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines are trained to operate anywhere in the world in all environments, under any condition and circumstance, as a rapid reaction force. The Korps Mariniers can be deployed to a given...
Marine Joint Effects Observer Groups to standardise procedures to assure interoperability.
Equipment
The battery uses the vehicles and standard equipment of 3 Commando Brigade, supplemented with specialist observation capabilities; night vision, voice and data communications and target indication such as Laser Target DesignatorsLaser applications
Many scientific, military, medical and commercial laser applications have been developed since the invention of the laser in the 1958. The coherency, high monochromaticity, and ability to reach extremely high powers are all properties which allow for these specialized applications.-Scientific:In...
and GPS location.
Personal weapons are the L85A2
SA80
The SA80 is a British family of 5.56mm small arms. It is a selective fire, gas-operated assault rifle. SA80 prototypes were trialled in 1976 and production was completed in 1994....
, with the L7 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMGs) and M-249 Minimi
FN Minimi
The Minimi is a Belgian 5.56mm light machine gun developed by Fabrique Nationale in Herstal by Ernest Vervier. First introduced in 1974, it has entered service with the armed forces of over thirty countries...
as support fire weapons.
Formation
Originally formed during the Second World War, the unit eventually evolved into the 95 Forward Observation Unit (95 FOU). In 1975 the unit was reduced to its current size and co-located with the SBSSpecial Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
at Royal Marines Poole
Royal Marines Poole
Royal Marines Poole is a British naval base in Poole, England and is the centre for the Royal Marines and Royal Navy amphibious and riverine activities.-History:...
. It was tasked with providing FO teams to the Royal Marines, the Parachute Regiment; the ACE Mobile Force (Land) (AMF(L)) and the SBS. The smaller sized unit soon found it was unable to meet its many obligations.
The Falklands War
After the Argentine invasion of the Falklands, the unit deployed to the South Atlantic where it operated alongside both the SASSpecial Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
and SBS. The skills of the Commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
-trained unit were in high demand as commanders re-discovered their usefulness. FO teams were relocated about the islands as the British advanced on the capital at Port Stanley.
Three British civilians in Port Stanley were killed by British naval gunfire controlled by the unit, when a ships' gun beacon MIP radar malfunctioned. The three women were sheltering in a part of the town which the FO team officer had been briefed was free of civilians. The FO team were themselves in a very exposed position to the north of the town. The FO officer calculated the ship's error, but the ship's computer system did not indicate anything wrong, so after three rounds were fired the FO officer dismissed the ship from the firing line. The ship's weapons staff spent the next 24 hours going through their system, and discovered their radar had not locked onto the correct datum point, creating an error in firing equal to that calculated by the FO officer. The Argentine military command were very quick to announce this error as a deliberate act of aggression towards the Islanders. The FO team, which was still conducting covert reconnaissance and bombardment, learned of the tragedy from the BBC World Service.
FO teams called artillery fire and air strikes onto Argentine positions in support of every major British assault. With the Argentine surrender, the unit returned to their home in Poole.
Persian Gulf 1991
148 provided teams initially in Northern IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and later assisted in the Scud missile hunt.
Casualties
Lance Bombardier Ross Clark aged 25 from South Africa, and Lance Bombardier Liam McLaughlin, aged 21 from Lancashire, were killed during a rocket attack in the Sangin area of Helmand province on Saturday 3 March 2007 http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/LanceBombardiersRossClarkAndLiamMclaughlinKilledInAfghanistan.htm.Iraq 2003–present
3 Commando Brigade conducted an amphibious landing to occupy the Al Faw Peninsula during Operation TELIC, the 2003 invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. On the first night of Op TELIC 1 the unit suffered its first deaths of the war where a US Marine helicopter carrying a joint 148 Bty party and a other members of the BRF crashed close to the Iraq Border. The unit was attached to 42 Commando RM. The Battery provided Forward Observation support to HMS MARLBOROUGH, HMS CHATHAM, HMAS ANZAC and to the 105mm gun batteries of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.
See also
- British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
- Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
- Battle of Meiktila