Origins
The theory of TOT was first developed by the US Army shortly before World War II to help improve the effectiveness of artillery firepower, but the levels of communication and co-ordination required to achieve it were not reliably established until after WWII
It had been found during World War I that most of the casualties in an artillery bombardment occur within the first few seconds. During those first few seconds, troops may be in the open and may not be prone. After that, enemy troops have gone prone and/or sought cover. This dramatically lessens the casualties from shrapnel or high explosive blast. World War II Allied artillery units were often trained to fire their guns in a precise order, so that all shells would hit a target at the same time, delivering the maximum possible damage.
Read more about this topic: Time On Target
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
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