Bringing the rain and pain in the military is the forward observer. They are the eyes of death dropping 1000 pound JDAMs on the enemy. They coordinate between the infantry and the artillery guys. The role has evolved over a hundred years to the modern day tactics of drones and GPS laser guided munitions. Learn about how the Forward Observes operated throughout history.
We read through an amazingly detailed dissertation written on the history of FO’s to bring you this.
The 13 Foxtrot MOS or Forward Observer has been important in military history since World War II.
Find out how the role evolved from originally dealing with being scoffed at by Generals to now being in a position turning the tide of entire battles.
In Iraq and Afghanistan FO’s lead the way with new UAV technology that helps them drop precision munitions on their target.
Video Edited by Rebecca Rosen
Big thank you to John R Walker for his dissertation written on FOs at Kent State University in 2009 which we used for research in this video. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/feec/0e6a33c484d88917145c1d9bb3581d872756.pdf