Which term describes fire that travels parallel to the ground?

• A. Grazing
• B. Plunging
• C. Oblique
• D. Enfilade

Answer: (A)

Grazing fire is the fire trajectory that stays essentially parallel to the ground, causing the bullets to skim along the surface as they travel downrange. This term is used to describe how the rounds move in a near-level path, creating a long belt of fire along the ground. It’s different from plunging fire, which arcs upward and then down onto targets at distance, and from oblique fire, which is fired at an angle between horizontal and steep vertical. Enfilade isn’t about the path of the bullets relative to the ground at all; it refers to fire directed along the length of a target line or through a feature like a trench.