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A 'fire support base' ('FSB' or 'firebase') is a military encampment designed to provide artillery support to infantry operating in areas beyond the normal range of fire support from their own base camps. FSBs were used extensively by the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

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Components during Vietnam War

External links

Components during Vietnam War

An FSB was built mainly as a permanent encampment, though many were dismantled when the units that they supported moved. Their main components varied by size: small bases usually had six 105 millimeter howitzers, a platoon of engineers permanently on station, a Landing Zone (LZ), a Tactical Operations Center (TOC), an aid station staffed with medics, a communications bunker, and a battalion of infantry. Large FSBs would also have a medium artillery position (155 mm), a piece of self-propelled artillery, and an infantry division.

External links

★ The Gunpit - Basic Layout

★ The 2001 version of Vietnam LZs, FBs, FSBs and Camps

★ Fire Support Base Development by Major Robert V Nicoli, 9-69