Jocks flying ground support sorties have a healthy dislike for ground fire. Both jocks and their crew chiefs dislike those bothersome holes in "their" bird. There isn't a pilot I've known, or talked to, that would fly low enough or slow enough to see a battalion of tanks hiding in the woods. Jocks fly around up high and relatively safe fro, immediate threats. Then they do see something to shoot at on the ground they come in fast, hard, and low, and then they bug out with the same haste. After all, both their training and their bird set the taxpayer back a pretty penny. If there is a FAC is available in the area, then targets hidden to the aircraft, but visible to the FAC might be hit. If one is not available, then the only thing that will be hit is anyone in the open who looks even remotely hostile. (Remember those neat pictures of the Panzers rolling along, with the flags draped over the front and engine deck in an effort to convince the Luftwaffe that they are on the same side.) If no FAC is available, then I suggest the following as a way to handle this problem. When the aircraft arrive, roll a d10. If a 1 is rolled, then take the number of friendly units in the area (not stands), and roll randomly to see which unit is attacked by mistake. On a die roll of 2-10, then take the number of enemy units (not stands), and randomly roll to see who is attacked. Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter #5 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com