Company Commander. On receiving his instructions from the officer in charge of the exercise, the company commander returns to his company, keeping track of the changing aspect of his target as he does so. Arriving at the center of his company, he is met by his platoon leaders, and range finders, who have assembled in his absence. The company commander says:
"The target is a line of skirmishers, visible in part. It may be seen between us and that long line of green bushes which begins one finger to the right of that red water tower at 11 o'clock and it extends well beyond the bushes both to the right and to the left."
(At this point the range finders begin their estimation and the captain pauses until the senior range finder, or other designated person automatically announces the average estimate of the range, saying for example, "range 1100.")
The captain then resumes, saying:
"The sector assigned to this company is three fingers long and extends from that group one finger to the right of the water tower, to a point four fingers to the right of the tower. Each platoon will cover the entire company sector. Range ten-fifty and eleven-fifty. Fire at will at my signal. Posts."
Platoon Leaders. The platoon leaders then hasten to the center of their platoons and "put into execution the commands and directions of the captain, having first taken such precautions to insure a correct sight-setting and clear description of the aiming point as the situation permits or requires" (Par. 251 I. D. R.), by saying:
Target: The target is a line of skirmishers about 1100 yards to our front, only parts of which are visible.
Reference point: That long line of bushes about 1300 yards to our left front. The company sector is three fingers long and lies between us and that reference point, extending one-half finger beyond each end of the bushes.
Aiming point: The bottom of the line of bushes.
Range: 1050 and 1150.