US/UK Crew orders

[Kingtiger]

OK guys sitting and translating swedish tank commands to english, some of them sounds bloody fishy to me in english, would any US or UK crewmember look over them and see if there is betther terms to use?

/KT

1. Driver prepare to reverse/advance

2. Driver Reverse/forward

3. Driver drive against/advance along..

4. Driver speed up/slow down

5. Driver Left/Right/ what is the word for deadon? when its time to go straight forward?

6. All clear behind us (anny shorter command for that?)

7. Report clear behind us

8. Road free (to cross)

9. Report Road free (maybe not used in SB much..)

10. Driver Halt

11. Driver slow halt

12. at/on/in... Battleposition!

12.1 Barrel clear! (when barrel is over the top so you dont hit dirt when firing)

13. Battleposition here!

14. Cover! (take)

15. unsafe gun (maybe not used in SB much..)

16. Fire (well..)

17. Cease fire!

18. Loader MG fire! (cant be used in SB)

19. Loader abort!

20. Transport! (dont sound right at all, its when you have been engaged and gonna pull out you give this command so the gunner can put the gun on safety, driver engage the lever etc. its a prepatory command. not the ordering command (wich will be "driver reverse" etc)

21. New Target! (TC commands to abort engaging that target and engage a new one)

22. On the way! (Firing)

23. Short - round hitting on this side of target but low.

24. Over - round going over target.

[Tibbs]

"Commands" from the Tank commander to the driver are far less formal and vary widely from one crew to another in the US Army, at least way back when.

Let's go!

Move out!

Left....left....your other left, dammnit!

slow down!

you get the idea...

[Mogwa]

When I was a tanker many of these were not actual commands, just informal directions (IE not taught or found in some manual) But Ill give it a go.

1 Get ready to move (or move out)

2 Driver back up / Driver move out

3 * Not sure what you mean here. Probably just the tank commander telling the driver to continue on this route/ heading/direction

4 Kick it in the ass/ move out !/ Whoa/ slow it up/Slow down

5 Turn left/right stop turn/ ok/ thats good/ hold what youve got

6 Clear to back up

7 Let me know when its clear to back up

8 Your clear to cross (the road)

9 *Not sure what you mean here. Probably something like Your clear to pull onto the road

10 Driver stop

11 Driver slow down

12 take up a battle position/ position here

13 Not sure what you mean here

14 take cover/ button up

15 Gun is armed/hot/etc

16 Fire

17 Cease fire

18 Cant remember exact command here. Something like "loader, 240, troops, 10 oclock, 300 meters, fire / fire and adjust.

19 loader cease fire

20 lets get ready to leave/ lets get the f#*& out of here / we need to move

21 cease fire / followed by new fire command. (gunner sabot tank)

22 On the way

23 short, re engage

24 over, re engage

25 lost re engage (used when a round is fired but its impact/trajectory is not observed)

AsI said most of these commands you have listed had no formal commands and a lot of communication is informal in US tanks. (at leat when they arent being monitored, as on a tank range. IE TTVIII)

Hope this helps,

Mog

[12Alfa]

OK guys sitting and translating swedish tank commands to english, some of them sounds bloody fishy to me in english, would any US or UK crewmember look over them and see if there is betther terms to use?

/KT

1. Driver prepare to reverse/advance same

2. Driver Reverse/forwardsame

3. Driver drive against/advance along..same

4. Driver speed up/slow downsame

5. Driver Left/Right/ what is the word for deadon? when its time to go straight forward? Driver "ON"

6. All clear behind us (anny shorter command for that?) driver your clear to reverse

7. Report clear behind us

8. Road free (to cross) road clear driver advance

9. Report Road free (maybe not used in SB much..)

10. Driver Haltsame

11. Driver slow halt driver prepare to halt

12. at/on/in... Battleposition!

12.1 Barrel clear! (when barrel is over the top so you dont hit dirt when firing) Bore clear

13. Battleposition here! Driver adopt a turret down position here

14. Cover! (take) Driver adopt a covered position

15. unsafe gun (maybe not used in SB much..)

16. Fire (well..)

17. Cease fire! Tagret STOP

18. Loader MG fire! (cant be used in SB)

19. Loader abort! Loader STOP

20. Transport! (dont sound right at all, its when you have been engaged and gonna pull out you give this command so the gunner can put the gun on safety, driver engage the lever etc. its a prepatory command. not the ordering command (wich will be "driver reverse" etc)

21. New Target! (TC commands to abort engaging that target and engage a new one) Target STOP, Next target right/left

22. On the way! (Firing) Firing ...NOW

23. Short - round hitting on this side of target but low.re-engage...add 1/2 target

24. Over - round going over target.drop 1/2 target

hope this helps, formal driver commands are used for training. In my crew we have been working for a few years together so its less formal, but i still use them to keep them in line or to fuck with their heads from time to time. lol

[Kingtiger]

The american ones are far to long for me, I will go with 12As but cut short on "driver your clear to reverse" to "Driver clear reverse" its another word to cut out.

Reason im asking is for FMT in ARRC. I use to have Ghost as Gunner wich means I can lead him in swedish and the swedish commands I know in the spine of my back and its the short fast commands that is used in combat.

Problem is as soon as I crew with none-swedes I have to start THINKING what to say in english, merging that with a fucked up situation and you have something non-understandable command.

SO what im after is a "regulation" of english commands to adapt and spread in ARRC so all speak the same language in the tank.

I will have more questions of translations, especially terrain features and platoon commands.

Thanks for the help!

/KT

[19K30]

As said before commands for the driver in the US Army are very, very informal. Basically you tell the driver to do what you want him to do and how you want him to do it in a manner he understands.

Telling the gunner and loader what to do are much more formal, well officially anyways, in actual combat it is pretty much the same as what it is with the driver, tell everybody what to do in a matter they can understand. As an experienced crew you should know what to do anyways.

Formal Fire Commands used to be used at all times until it was authorized for the abbreviated fire command to be used during gunnery.

The Formal Fire Command is very long but in normally abbreviated to the only needed parts if all systems are functional.

It Starts with the "Alert" IE: Who you are talking to

GUNNER

LOADER

FROM MY POSITION

The next part that must be used is the ammo you will be using. This is omitted if the Tank Commander is engaging the target himself.

SABOT

HEAT

COAX

240 (Loader's Weapon)

Next is the Target Type that will be engaged

TANK

PC

TRUCK

TROOPS

CHOPPER

BUNKER

If there is more than one target the Tank Commander will say how many of the targets he wants engaged and which one he wants engaged first.

IE 2 TANKS LEFT TANK FIRST or 2 TANKS NEAR TANK FIRST

At this point the Loader either arms the gun if there is a round battle carried or loads the round type ordered and arms the gun. Once the gun is armed and the loader ensures he is out of the path of the breech the loader announces:

UP!

The Gunner (or Loader) targets the target and lets the Tank Commander know they have found the intended target by announcing:

IDENTIFIED

The gunner places the reticule center mass of the target. The Commander then checks for a good sight picture and gives the command to Fire

FIRE

or if he wants the loader to load a different ammo type he will say the new ammo type after "fire"

FIRE, FIRE SABOT

FIRE, FIRE HEAT

The gunner then alerts the crew that he is going to fire

ON THE WAY (The Loader does not say on the way)

The Tank Commander watches the shot.

If the target is hit he announces

TARGET

If the target is missed the Tank Commander announces where the round went

RIGHT

LEFT

SHORTLINE

OVERLINE

or if he did not observe the path of the round

LOST

If the target is destroyed the Tank Commander announces

CEASE FIRE

this ends the fire sequence

If there is another target to destroy he will announce the target is hit and then instruct to fire on the next target

TARGET, LEFT TANK

(The IDENTIFIED, UP, and FIRE commands are all repeated)

If the first target is missed and the Tank Commander want the target engaged again he announces

REENGAGE

(The IDENTIFIED, UP, and FIRE commands are all repeated)

If the Tank Commander wants the Gunner to engage targets on his own he when he gets to the "Fire" part of the fire command he commands:

FIRE AND ADJUST

The gunner then is instructed to engage targets on his own until ordered "Cease Fire"

If the tank commander is engaging targets with the .50 he alerts the crew:

CALIBER FIFTY

This is the entire fire command for this weapon system

Here are some examples of full up fire commands

GUNNER SABOT TANK

UP

IDENTIFIED

FIRE

ON THE WAY

TARGET

CEASE FIRE

GUNNER SABOT 2 TANKS NEAR TANK FIRST

UP

IDENTIFIED

FIRE

ON THE WAY

TARGET FAR TANK

UP

FIRE

ON THE WAY

TARGET

CEASE FIRE

GUNNER COAX TROOPS

IDENTIFIED

FIRE

ON THE WAY

TARGET

CEASE FIRE

If Sabot is battle carried and a miss occurs

GUNNER SABOT PC

UP

IDENTIFIED

FIRE FIRE HEAT

ON THE WAY

LOST

HEAT UP

REENGAGE

IDENTIFIED

FIRE

ON THE WAY

TARGET

CEASE FIRE

At anytime the Tank Commander can order the type of ammunition loaded in the tube (a lot of time this is directed by the Platoon Leader or Company Commander) The formal way to say this is:

BATTLECARRY (round type)

At any time the Tank Commander can ask for a "crew report" by saying

CREW REPORT

The crew responds in this order, giving his status:

DRIVER READY

LOADER READY (ammo type) LOADED

GUNNER READY (ammo type or coax) INDEXED

The Tank Commander then announces

TC READY

This ensures the tank commander that his tank is at "Readiness Condition 1" or REDCON 1. The code word for ready to fight.

The abbreviated fire command is normally used in the offense it basicy goes like this:

target type, up, identified, fire, on the way ie:

TANK

UP

IDENTIFIED

FIRE

ON THE WAY

TARGET

CEASE FIRE

If there is more than one target type presented remember to always engage the most dangerous target first.

IE Tanks before PCs, PCs before troops, near tanks before far tanks

However it is not always as easy as that as a BTR-80 might seem more dangerous than its troops it just dropped off, but if those troops are carrying an AT-5, you need to kill them first.

It is important to remember everything I just listed are the commands for when you have a full up system. Commands change when any system is not working. With a degraded system abbreviated fire commands are not used.

I will post the degraded fire commands next

[Hedgehog]

KT just use what works.

"Go over to the side of that church."

"Left, no your other left."

and most important:

"STOP!! you asshole."

or you could just teach them Swedish.

[Kingtiger]

OK continuing with names on terrain features. I dont have a list so im just writing whatever I need help with.

1. When looking at the horizon you can see a forest, thrue that forest is a road crossing it, wich leaves a 3-4m whide area free of trees. what is the area called? in swedish its know as "gatet". It dont have to be a road, it can be open space between 2 houses, between 2 forest parts ets, but its rarely over 20m whide.

2. once again, looking at the horizon you see (open fields) how the road disaperes over the hill, what is that place called? translated from swedish its something like "road end" but is there a more military (shorter and weird) word for it?

3. whats the opposite of "beyond"? (think beyond village) do you say "short of village" ?

thats all for now.

/KT

[Hedgehog]

1. Sounds like your describing a Clearing for a forest, in urban areas i'd refer to it as a gap.

2. Horizon or Crest.

3. This side, or short

keep them coming

[Kingtiger]

2. Horizon or Crest.

no not the horizon or the crest... its the end of the road you can see, often used as RPT (reference point in terrain).

Thanks on the other ones.

/KT

[GH_Lieste]

A linear cleared feature in wooded area would probably be referred to as a 'firebreak' or 'cut' - a clearing is typically a polygonal area feature.

I can visualise your description of the crest of the road, but don't know if it has a specific designation.

[Tacbat]

or you could just teach them Swedish.

KT, I'd like a tall, athelitic, blonde, female language instructor to give me my lessons 1-on-1. :-P

[Kingtiger]

KT, I'd like a tall, athelitic, blonde, female language instructor to give me my lessons 1-on-1. :-P

Good enough?

its easier for me to learn correct abrevations of terrain features in english then what it is for the rest of ARRC to learn swedish (exept Ghost).

/KT

[Tacbat]

(after picking up jaw off floor) OH HELL YA!

[Hedgehog]

(after picking up jaw off floor) OH HELL YA!

Second !!

[ceedub]

I was just browsing the forum and saw this request for english terms. Could dead-end or cul-de-sac be the term you're looking for to describe the end of the road or where it ends?

Ceedub

[GH_Lieste]

Dead-end or Cul-de-sac would be the 'end' of a route where it physically terminates.

The intent was the position on the crest where the road dips out of sight (but continues).

[12Alfa]

Dead-end or Cul-de-sac would be the 'end' of a route where it physically terminates.

The intent was the position on the crest where the road dips out of sight (but continues).

We call them "Gaps"

as in gunner "gap left"

11 this is 11a , Gap right", over:biggrin:

[Kingtiger]

Gap sounds good... short and easy to use.

Thanks!

[alpha6]

yea we had more of a... well: "Damnit I said stop!" (TC kicks me to kick the driver), "ok now speed up... not that much!" (again someone gets kicked), "Left... more... more... STOP!... ok right... STOP damnit!" or for the gunner: "PC! 11:00! no! your other 11!" (TC overide) then again somtimes we were good but it didn't help that we were really good friends so sometimes we had: "hurry turn the music off! it's the Plt. commander!":)

[Taco]

yea we had more of a... well: "Damnit I said stop!" (TC kicks me to kick the driver), "ok now speed up... not that much!" (again someone gets kicked), "Left... more... more... STOP!... ok right... STOP damnit!" or for the gunner: "PC! 11:00! no! your other 11!" (TC overide) then again somtimes we were good but it didn't help that we were really good friends so sometimes we had: "hurry turn the music off! it's the Plt. commander!":)

Back in the M60 when the driver would drive unbuttoned the TC used to turn the turret to the side and then beat me.. I mean the driver with the antenna.

Has there ever been a US tank crew that did not have music piped into the intercom?

[9erRed]

The intent was the position on the crest where the road dips out of sight (but continues).

Greetings all,

Ref the road: Normally called "road crest" and refered to as "near or far"

ie: "Driver, 1 o'clock far road crest, left side - Identified?"

Once identified by the driver the commander will issue orders to the driver on what action to take if they come under fire while on the way to the next position.

All for now ..... 9erRed

[alpha6]

Back in the M60 when the driver would drive unbuttoned the TC used to turn the turret to the side and then beat me.. I mean the driver with the antenna.

Has there ever been a US tank crew that did not have music piped into the intercom?

I probly not we preaty much had our own radio station going with our 3 1,000 song MP3 players we even took requests:) and yes as the loader I was the DJ 'causs there was never much loading to do... and yes I made the all bagpipe houre:) good times, good times

[Kingtiger]

yea we had more of a... well: "Damnit I said stop!" (TC kicks me to kick the driver), "ok now speed up... not that much!" (again someone gets kicked), "Left... more... more... STOP!... ok right... STOP damnit!" or for the gunner: "PC! 11:00! no! your other 11!" (TC overide) then again somtimes we were good but it didn't help that we were really good friends so sometimes we had: "hurry turn the music off! it's the Plt. commander!":)

It really baffles me that US crews are so undiciplinary in coms in the AFVs :shocked:

Now 2 ex crewmembers have stated same kind of behavior so it really looks like that is the SOP. Scary when its seconds that are important in combat, Getting the orders thrue fast and clear is just as vital as the gunner fires before the enemy does.

The US crew chatting is... well yeah scary... Sure in my APC we changed the SOP orders around (left out distance to target as I as gunner was betther on judging that then my TC etc) but still had the wery short, clear and fast commands shouted to save on those valuable seconds.

So its a bit chocking and scary to see that the US army that are amongst the most combat experienced (Isreal having more combat maybe?) in the world are so slobby with their orders in the tank.

/KT

[Taco]

It really baffles me that US crews are so undiciplinary in coms in the AFVs :shocked:

Now 2 ex crewmembers have stated same kind of behavior so it really looks like that is the SOP. Scary when its seconds that are important in combat, Getting the orders thrue fast and clear is just as vital as the gunner fires before the enemy does.

The US crew chatting is... well yeah scary... Sure in my APC we changed the SOP orders around (left out distance to target as I as gunner was betther on judging that then my TC etc) but still had the wery short, clear and fast commands shouted to save on those valuable seconds.

So its a bit chocking and scary to see that the US army that are amongst the most combat experienced (Isreal having more combat maybe?) in the world are so slobby with their orders in the tank.

/KT

Oh when it came to real fire we were by the book for fire commands, but when we were out playing laser tag we would get very informal. Also I do not know about your units but our tank units at least in my company were together for a couple years at a time. After spending that much time together the crew really did get into the psychic commands, as a driver I would already have sighted out likely locations for hull down/turret down and paths before the TC ever said anything. Same for the gunner he usually already had found targets and was set to fire damn near instantaneously with the TC's command. Really the only one who was waiting without a clue was the loader. Also not sure about your live fire ranges but mine out at the Yakima Firing Center (MPRC) was over an hour away road march. We usually did that with the turret stowed, so there is not much for a crew to do but talk.