Fire support is long-range firepower provided to a front-line military unit. Typically, fire support is provided by artillery or close air support (usually directed by a forward observer), and is used to shape the battlefield or, more optimistically, define the battle. Battleships, for example, have also been a viable form of fire support in the past, being the main effort in naval warfare. Fire support's history and lineage traces through the advent of cannons in warfare as artillery, a major shaping force on the battlefield since its inception. Fire support, as an extension, is the marriage of artillery to the forces in contact. It is the direct ability to properly utilize artillery. As opposed to direct fire, that of the forces in contact, fire support utilizes artillery and close air support.
In the US Army, line companies in standard Heavy Brigade Combat Teams often utilize Fire Support Teams, or FST mounted in forward support vehicles to observe and adjust fires.
Famous quotes containing the words fire and/or support:
“his lips meet mine, and a flood
Of sweet fire sweeps across me, so I drown
Against him, die and find death good.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“... married women work and neglect their children because the duties of the homemaker become so depreciated that women feel compelled to take a job in order to hold the respect of the community. It is one thing if women work, as many of them must, to help support the family. It is quite another thing—it is destructive of woman’s freedom—if society forces her out of the home and into the labor market in order that she may respect herself and gain the respect of others.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)