1. Words of Command.—The following words of command will be used as may be found necessary:
At—(Elevation and deflection).
At—(Object).
| Fire or Rapid Fire | On which the firer will load, adjust his sights, aim and fire, deliberately or rapidly. |
| Cease Fire | On which fire will be discontinued, and the firer will bring the rifle to the loading position, recharge the magazine, and apply the safety-catch. |
| Rest | On which the safety-catch will be applied
and an easy position assumed. When rifles are not provided with on the command “Rest” the cut-off will be pressed in, the bolt opened and closed, and the spring eased. |
| Unload | On which all cartridges will be removed from the chamber and magazine, and other motions performed as detailed in Sec. 27, para. 4. |
2. Words of command in fire orders will be as few as possible. They must be announced clearly and deliberately by fire-unit commanders, and repeated if necessary, should they notice by the actions of their men that they are not properly heard or understood. If the noise of firing, the distance due to deployment of the unit, the wind, or other conditions prevent the hearing of orders, they must be passed from N.C.O. to N.C.O., from observer to observer, or from man to man.
3. As already stated, when possible, directions as to sighting as well as the target will be given before the occasion for firing arises, and fire will be opened without further orders as soon as the target appears. Orders for adjusting the sights should be given first, so that there may be no necessity for the firers to remove their eyes from the target after it is indicated, otherwise the order of the words of command is not of material importance.
4. Anticipatory Orders.—Fire orders should anticipate events as far as possible, so that lengthy orders will not be needed after the target appears. The following is an example of an anticipatory order, which includes the use of combined sights: The enemy is about to advance from that fir-wood on the hill half left. When he moves, concentrate on the thickest part of his line—1250 and 1350.
5. If all ranks are kept informed of the course of events,[24] and led to anticipate occasions for fire action, there should be no need for any words of command other than those which regulate movement, the opening and closing of fire, and the rate of fire; and even these may be dispensed with if the firers are well trained, and combine their efforts according to orders issued in anticipation. The results of observation and alterations to be made in sighting or point of aim must be notified at once.
6. Instruction in Fire Orders.—Fire-unit commanders, observers, and N.C.O.’s should be thoroughly trained in giving clear, concise fire orders under practical conditions. They must watch to see if their orders are understood by the actions of their men. Men must be trained not to put their rifles to their shoulders until they understand the orders given and recognize the target indicated. This rule is essential to prevent useless waste of ammunition in war, and to serve as a check in peace training, as to whether orders are given or passed from man to man so that they are immediately understood and carried out by the men. It will enable fire-unit commanders to know when their orders are not heard or understood, and also enable company and platoon commanders to supervise the training of fire-unit commanders.
7. Passing Fire Orders from Man to Man.—(i) Soldiers are trained in passing short verbal messages and orders accurately and quickly as part of their field-training, and this instruction is contained in Drill and Field-Training of this series in Sec. 8 and also in Sec. 42, which deals with training in passing messages in whispers during night operations. Training in passing fire orders quickly and accurately from man to man is a vitally important part of the musketry training of N.C.O.’s, observers, and men. Orders passed from man to man in the firing-line must be short. They may be passed a sentence or two at a time, or as a whole, the latter being the best and quickest method if orders are short.