How Will You Take the Shot?

Shoot, move, communicate, survive, and adapt. These are the warrior skills that leaders expect every team member to master. Task mastery requires a complete understanding of a task, its parts, principles, importance, and support to the larger mission. When perfected at the individual level, task mastery will build into the collective task performed by higher levels. All members expect individual proficiency, but how do we attain that proficiency?

“Commanders and leaders need to keep things as simple as possible: shoot, move, communicate, and survive.”

DIDEA and Why It Matters 

DIDEA stands for Detect, Identify, Decide, Engage, and Assess. DIDEA is commonly known as the direct fire engagement process. For the DIDEA process to be efficient, soldiers must master the basics before progressing to increasingly complex tasks. The person behind the weapon needs to understand the direct fire engagement process to apply the shot process.

The shot process is the foundation of all direct fire weapon platforms.

Having a proficient shooter is part of the equation, while the other part is the ability to apply critical thinking skills. Uncontrolled firing will more than likely result in an investigation or even worse, collateral damage. The United States has spent countless hours and resources to ensure its militaries avoid those situations. Applying the direct fire engagement process ensures all military members operate per the law of war, the rules of engagement, and execute a well-placed shot.

Detect: Detection is an “active process.” Military members are taught to be constantly alert. Step one will trigger the DIDEA process and will happen almost simultaneously with step two, identify.

Identify: Situational awareness and advanced situational awareness incorporate methods and techniques to identify characteristics between hostile, non-hostile, threat, and non-threat. The identification step all determines what type of engagement is to be made. For example, is the target a person, vehicle, or some type of equipment?

Decide: After determining what the target is, a decision is to be made. Do we continue to develop the situation, or do we engage? The identify step will open a myriad of questions, such as, is this a threat? Does this violate the rules of engagement? Is there a hostile act or hostile intent? Will a shot fired reveal my concealed position? How will a shot affect the mission? 

Engage: Do we have the right tool for the job? There is more to consider for a direct fire engagement as opposed to just taking a shot. Environmental effects, shot placement, and impact on adjacent units are also considered. According to the DIDEA manual, the purpose is to acquire the target first and engage first, giving friendly units the ability to act quickly against the enemy. 

Assess: After a shot has been fired, we need to determine the effects on the target. An accurate assessment will determine what happens next. Whether it’s a follow-on shot or moving on to the next target will be determined after the shot.

Critical Thinking Makes a Lethal Soldier

The direct fire engagement process can take place in less than three seconds. Within those three seconds, multiple threats can be detected, identified, and the shooter will prioritize threats to decide on a course of action. After a decision is made, the shooter will apply the shot process for the engagement. TC 3-22.9 and TC 3-22.10 begin a direct fire engagement by mastering the mechanics of the shot process. The shot process is reinforced through “muscle memory” and becomes second nature to the shooter. Sensory overload happens when more information comes in than the brain can handle. One of the worst things in a combat situation is “shutting down” or freezing due to sensory overload. Training for “muscle memory” has proven to be beneficial, but an often-overlooked attribute is a mental stimulation. Identifying threats, determining the order to engage, and how they will be encountered is simple when a singular target is presented.

Training Matters MORE Than the Equipment

Hardware doesn’t determine performance; the soldier does. A major study from the Small Arms Ammunition Configuration (SAAC) concluded that the human factor contributed the most when shooters missed their target. Along with Vortex Optics, the Army developed the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Fire Control (NGSW-FC) precisely because of the importance of human factors. The graphs (Fig. 1 & 2) suggest that our weapons outperform the marksman operating them. The SAAC study implies a shooter’s point of aim and understanding of anemology are the dominant factors for ineffective fires. This is further shown through the relatively small population of shots missed through dispersion (inherent inaccuracy of a weapon due to bullet spread) consistent across all ranges. The point of aim issue has been addressed in courses such as the Marksmanship Master Trainer Course and the US Army Sniper Course which informs students of the shot process applicability throughout all squad level weapons within the infantry rifle platoon and sniper sections. Unfortunately, the wisdom of these courses is still early in its distribution which leaves many marksmanship programs lacking in content veracity. Human factors like wind velocity and range estimation at long range are more significant in comparison to other factors. The primary sources of error for small arms are:

• Aim Error

• Range Estimation

• Wind Estimation 

• Dispersion

• Air Density Variation

• Muzzle Velocity Variation

• Drag Variation

• Zeroing Error

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

A Fix for Our Problems

Multi-billion-dollar contracts have been established to make US Soldiers and Marines more lethal. The goal: make direct fire engagements easier by creating more sophisticated hardware. This is only applicable when paired with equally sophisticated training. The machine operator firing a 6.8mm light machine gun is no more effective than a green beret with a moist projectile shot through a straw. Fortunately, there is a plan in place to solve this problem. Through Army doctrine and training, soldiers can increase their lethality with little to no cost. Fundamental drills and practices have been proven successful over the years. These fundamentals are mentioned time and time again by world-class competitive shooters. Understanding what needs to happen before firing a shot can drastically increase the probability of a first-round (lethal) impact.

So, What Now?

  The US Army has invested billions into the Infantry Warfare Simulator (IWARS), Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT), Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulations (JCATS), and One Semi-Automated Force (OneSAF). These facilities will help the end-user and evolve training techniques. Dry fire drills and minimal range time will only take your skill so far. Soldiers often hear phrases such as “Do more with less.” An honest observation from the outside looking in is that soldiers want instant gratification with their shooting abilities. Meaning, that we expect to be really good, really fast. Techniques such as dry fire drills are not appealing. They are viewed as boring or mundane. In contrast, world-class shooters, such as the competitors from the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), can attest to dry fire drills being a key component to their success. The soldiers of the AMU do receive the best maintained and precisely tuned weapons, but their training methods begin from the shooter's perspective. Perfecting stance, draw, sight picture, aim, breath control, and recoil management are some of the elements that these world-class shooters focus on. Snipers and riflemen need to refine and hone their basic skills and use them as building blocks for additional skills. When superior skills are paired with superior hardware, such as the MK22 or the NGSW-FC, the possibilities are endless. So, I will ask again. How will you prepare yourself, your squad, or your section to take the shot? What practices are you taking to ensure you accurately locate, identify, and engage a target?