The research investigated a new course of fire, called combat field fire (CFF), to determine CFF marksmanship standards, and where CFF should occur in marksmanship training. CFF is a complex scenario requiring changing magazines, reacting to a simulated malfunction and engaging targets within arrays that require multiple hits. Ten training companies (1976 Soldiers) from the Infantry OSUT and Basic Combat Training Brigades at Ft. Benning, GA participated. Six companies executed Army qualification at the end of basic rifle marksmanship (BRM) and CFF at the end of advanced rifle marksmanship (ARM). Four executed CFF in BRM and executed Army qualification in ARM. Performance data and Soldier interviews revealed the unique dynamics of CFF, differentiating it from Army qualification. Results showed that CFF should be in ARM, as Soldiers were not prepared in BRM for the additional skills and demands required by CFF. Recommended standards were developed for the Expert, Sharpshooter, Marksman, and Unqualified marksmanship categories, TPU (trained, needs practice, and not trained) categories., and Go/NoGo categories.

"June 2010"--T.p. "Army project number 633007A792"--T.p.

Background -- Method -- Results -- Discussion -- Summary and conclusions -- Appendixes: History of Army marksmanship record fire courses -- Training observation form (condensed) -- Soldier questionnaire with results -- Company commander input form -- CFF codes by target for kills and no kills -- Descriptive statistics -- AQ and CFF frequency distributions -- POI effects on AQ scores and CFF hits -- Acronyms.