The FDC (Fire Direction Control Center) is the brains of an artillery battery; it takes in location data from an observer and converts it to settings for the 6 guns. That includes the shell type, the fuse and any settings, which powder bags to include and which to remove. Settings for the gun itself are deflection, the left to right setting, and elevation. FDC at Fire Support Base Washington III was well protected with sandbags. We were the only subunit in the battery that had electricity so our bunker had to be more ‘light secure’ as we operated 24 hours, 7 days a week. FDC communicated with the guns via telephone. The roll of wire to construct our small phone company is on the ground to the right.

Our lights were on all night in a very dark world and light along with the sounds from our generators made the FDC bunker a natural aiming point for enemy mortar gunners. Read the full story. https://vietnamsoldier.com/accurate-artillery-fire-2/