_The Director_: “Captain Burt, explain to the class how the section leader determines when the fire should be lifted.”
_Captain Burt_: “The section leader is equipped with a type EE field glass which has an inverted sight leaf in the field of view. The glass is used as follows:
“Align the inverted sight scale so that the announced range to the target will coincide with the target.
“If the range to the target is 850 meters or less, note where the line in the graticule representing 1,350 meters cuts the landscape.
“If the range to the target is 850 meters or over, add 500 meters to the range to the target, and locate the point on the landscape that is cut by this line.
“If the point located on the landscape is at or above the feet of our own troops, it will be safe to fire.
“The gunner in a similar manner determines when it is safe to fire by means of his rear sight so there is always a double check.”
_The Director_: “Captain Smith, do you see any purpose in ordering a rate of fire of 200 for the first minute?”
_Captain Smith_: “Yes, sir, it is important to place as great a volume of fire as possible on the enemy at the beginning of the attack. However, the guns cannot maintain such a rate for but a few minutes, so it is necessary to lower it. A rate of 125 to 150 could be maintained for 20 or 30 minutes, so it is safe to order that.”
_The Director_: “Captain Jones, what do you mean by the ammunition point?”
_Captain Jones_: “The machine gun platoon ammunition point consists of the transport corporal, one runner, and the four ammunition carts and four machine gun carts with their drivers. This ammunition point is responsible for maintaining the ammunition supply from the carts forward to the guns.”
_The Director_: “You are correct about the composition of the ammunition point, but not about its duties. Its function is to maintain a supply of ammunition in the carts sufficiently close to the guns that it can be gotten forward by the ammunition carriers, but it is not responsible for getting the ammunition forward. Numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of each squad are responsible for getting the ammunition forward from the carts to the guns. The transport corporal moves the carts forward from one covered position to another by bounds and keeps the platoon leader informed of the location of the carts. That is the reason a runner is assigned to the point. The corporal is responsible for getting the ammunition forward from the combat wagons. Normally this will be done by sending the ammunition carts to the battalion ammunition point. The machine gun carts should be kept filled at all times, if possible, and at the platoon ammunition point ready to move forward to the guns.
