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PREFACE

ATP 37, Supporting Arms in Amphibious Operations, is a guide for naval commanders for coordinating (1) the planning and delivery of supporting fire; and (2) the requests of the landing force for supporting fire during the planning and operational phases of amphibious operations.

Part I contains basic instructions and considerations necessary for planning and executing naval gunfire support; Part II outlines supporting operations performed by aircraft during amphibious operations and the command relationships, organizations, and procedures by which air support is integrated into the coordinated effort; Part III presents the organization and functioning of the supporting arms coordination center (SACC), the processing of target lists and naval gunfire, air, and artillery support requests, and the coordination of requests into the amphibious operation.

ATP 37 supplements ATP 8, Doctrine for Amphibious Operations, and should be used in conjunction with ATP 4, Allied Spotting Procedure for Naval Gunfire Support. ATP 37 contains techniques and methods which have been developed as a result of previous operations in amphibious warfare. This publication is not intended to prevent any commander from initiating and issuing special instructions to his command or from conceiving and developing new operational procedures. Its purpose is to obtain basic uniformity while permitting the flexibility and initiative required by the tactical situation.

Throughout this publication, references to other publications imply their effective editions. In changes, material which is new or substantially modified will be indicated by a vertical line in the