2006 State of the Field Artillery.

Recently, while trying to determine what I wanted to talk about in this year's State of the Field Artillery article, I thought about the events of the past and reviewed some of the articles written by my predecessors. Many things have changed in our branch over the past few years, but a lot has remained the same. We've transformed our branch, and we're still deeply committed to supporting the maneuver commander. That is evident in all our efforts in our units, our school and our futures development--especially precision-guided munitions (PGMs).

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Indeed, we remain on azimuth. We remain professional Field Artillery Soldiers and leaders instilled with the warrior ethos and optimally trained, organized and equipped to accomplish our mission. Although our mission statement has evolved somewhat over the years to incorporate joint and nonlethal assets, the fundamentals remain the same. Our mission is to support Army and joint commanders with cannon, rocket and missile fires and coordinate and integrate all their joint lethal and nonlethal fire support assets across the full range of military operations. Our great FA leaders and Soldiers are accomplishing this mission in Afghanistan and Iraq today.

FA Timeliness and Accuracy. In the lethal arena, we have performed superbly--making tremendous improvements in both our timeliness and accuracy. Or, perhaps, we just were given the opportunity to do what simulations at our combat training centers (CTCs) couldn't replicate properly.

We've demonstrated our ability to be accurate. With both the guided multiple-launch rocket system-unitary (GMLRS-U) and Army tactical missile system-unitary (ATACMS-U), we've demonstrated our superb accuracy time and time again. As you know, our Marine brethren have nicknamed GMLRS-U their "70-kilometer sniper rifle." I am impressed with our cannon accuracy as well, and Excalibur and the precision guidance kit (PGK) will give us even greater accuracy.

But I must stress that our accuracy with munitions is only as accurate as our total system of systems. We must have precision targeting enabled by technologies to use our PGMs effectively, technologies such as the precision strike suite-Special Operating Force (PSS-SOF) software. We must continue to push for precision in all the requirements for accurate predicted fire.

Our forward observer software (FOS) has incorporated PSS-SOF to provide the precision capability our observers need to engage targets with PGMs, such as GMLRS-U, Excalibur and the Air Force's joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs).

FOS also is expanding its capability so any laptop computer can run it. It will have the latest mapping engine and the ability to interface with force XXI battle command brigade and below (FBC[B.sup.2]) and (or) blue force tracker (BFT) to conduct a friendly unit check.

FA Nonlethal Assets. When faced with new situations in the nonlethal arena, Field Artillerymen have shown superb leadership. Just as we always have done, we have taken charge: coordinating and integrating nonlethal assets for the commander. Artillerymen never hesitate to coordinate all assets: electronic warfare (EW), information operations (IO), psychological operations (PSYOP) and civil-military operations (CMO).

I have been told on more than one occasion that Artillerymen make some of the best forward operating base (FOB) commanders. While our branch has the same quality officers that other branches have, we have an advantage. We spend our careers integrating everything available to the commander. As a group, we're good at it, and we easily can adapt our skills to any situation.

FA Organization. Of course, our units are organized differently today than they were just a short time ago. We are implementing the biggest organizational change in our branch since World War II by making our Artillery battalions organic to the brigade combat teams (BCTs) and giving them capabilities formerly resident at the division level, such as the ability to generate meteorological (Met) data.

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Although we're organized differently today, we still are committed to providing timely and accurate fires in support of the maneuver commander. So far, 18 battalions in the active component (AC) and six in the Army Reserve National Guard (ARNG) have converted to fires battalions. This year, an additional 19 AC and 23 ARNG FA battalions will transform into fires battalions. The 75th and 214th FA Brigades at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in the AC have become the second and third units to convert to fires brigades, and the 142nd FA Brigade in the Arkansas ARNG converted into a fires brigade in September. By the end of FY08, we will complete the transformation of Artillery units to the modular design.

The most recent change we've enacted is the division fire support coordinator (FSCOORD) is an 06 again. This seasoned Field Artilleryman will provide advice, guidance and direction on training and readiness to his fires battalion commander while working with his BCT commander.

The latest news is that FA colonels will be able to compete for BCT commands, starting with the FY08 command board. This will expand branch opportunities to command at the colonel level and, correspondingly, broaden our chances for more FA officers to be selected for brigadier general.

FA Missions. Perhaps the biggest change for our branch has been the opportunity to execute non-FA missions. We have done it all. Our units have executed maneuver battalion and task force missions at our training centers and in theater. We have acted as Infantrymen, Military Policemen and transporters and conducted hurricane disaster relief. We've accepted every mission, trained to a high level and then deployed and executed those missions.

I commend each and every member of the Artillery for his commitment to our Army and the myriad of missions we've been given. They all have demonstrated the FA's worth to our Army and nation.

We must be careful, however, to maintain our proficiency in our main mission. Upon redeploying from a nonstandard FA mission, units must reset just like all other units, but they also must concentrate on recertifying their Soldiers and units as Artillery. If we're not careful, we could end up with a generation of FA Soldiers who lack proficiency and experience in providing fire support to the ground commander. We must maintain and hone FA core competencies to preserve the reputation of our branch.

Precision-Guided Munitions. PGMs are a big change for us. Years of planning and development have finally "paid off." As I stated in my last column, the Army's Artillery PGMs are a great complement to Air Force precision munitions.

The ground commander now has additional options from which to choose: GMLRS-U and ATACMS-U. As a result of GMLRS-U's phenomenal success, it quickly has become the precision weapon of choice in theater. When fielded, Excalibur, PGK and the non-line-of-sight launch system (NLOS-LS) will provide the commander even more options.

We remain on track in all these areas and will continue to be challenged as we update our doctrine and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to exploit these weapons' capabilities fully on the battlefield.

The Excalibur program has continued to push forward in an effort to accelerate fielding the round into Soldiers' hands in theater. During July and August 06, Excalibur successfully engaged test targets with live high-explosive (HE) warheads. In preparation for future use, we have refined TTPs and technical bulletins and entered into the safety testing required for final release to the field.

Excalibur has begun a series of sequential environmental tests for safety designed to show how the round holds up under extreme heat and cold conditions, vibration and high pressure firings. To date, all of these tests have been successful. We're confident we'll get a reliable munition to theater in the near future. Used in conjunction with precision targeting tools, such as PSS-SOF, Excalibur can bring even more to the fight.

Future cannon platforms will see increased automation and digitization. The M777A2 howitzer is leading the way for US towed artillery in this area. However, more than 800 M119A2s are projected to be in the force by 2012 and will require some form of digitization for increased accuracy and the ability to fire PGMs.

Fort Sill Training. While Snow Hall and our FA Training Center (FATC) at Fort Sill might look the same from the outside, our school has been and still is undergoing some major changes. From an organizational view, our 30th Regiment still has three battalions: an officer training battalion, 1st Battalion, 30th FA (1-30 FA); an advanced individual training (AIT) battalion, 1-78 FA; and a fire support and logistics battalion, 2-2 FA.

In our FATC, we soon will have three basic training battalions (1-19 FA, 1-40 FA and 1-79 FA) and a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 13B Cannon Crewmember AIT and training support battalion (1-22 FA). FATC continues to train all Soldiers on the 40 warrior tasks and 11 battle drills and provides a sound base of Soldier and Artillery AIT skills to prepare them for the wide range of missions FA units now receive.

Although we teach the same basic principles of Artillery, we're working to improve our training. We started with officer training and the FA Captain's Career Course. As detailed in July-August edition of this magazine, we rapidly redesigned this course, using students who recently returned from theater to upgrade the instruction and integrate counterinsurgency instruction into the training.

Now we're using that model to transform the remainder of our officer training as well as our warrant officer and NCO courses. Our NCO Academy has transformed about 75 percent of its instruction and will complete the transformation by the end of this year.

In our spare time, we're planning for the arrival of the Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School from Fort Bliss, Texas, as well. We stood up the virtual Fires Center of Excellence (COE) on 1 June, and we continue to work hand-in-hand with our ADA colleagues to complete the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)-directed changes.

Among the most notable of the changes in our school has been the addition of the Joint and Combined Integration (JACI) Directorate in 2004. Since its inception, JACI has devoted itself to formalizing our joint training and relationships. It continues to educate and train our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and leaders to leverage the full spectrum of joint fires and to work toward joint fires interdependency.

JACI now conducts a two-week Joint Fires Observer Course (JFOC) to produce JFOs: trained service members who can request, adjust and control surface-to-surface fires, provide targeting information in support of Types 2 and 3 close air support (CAS) terminal attack controls and perform autonomous terminal guidance operations (TGO).

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In JACI's two-week Joint Fires and Effects Course (JOFEC), we're teaching joint leaders the skills and knowledge required to plan, synchronize and execute joint fires and effects (lethal and nonlethal) in support of the joint force commander.

Another big change is that the FA now is involved formally in IO and EW. We are now the Army's "expert" in tactical IO and operational EW.

The FA School continues to analyze and refine the Tactical IO Course (TIOC). This three-week course continues to educate NCOs and officers to perform as members of an IO cell at the brigade level and below. We currently are planning to train approximately 100 personnel in FY07, beginning in November with 30 slots per class. The refinements will bring the latest IO TTPs from Central Command (CENTCOM) and integrate them into the lesson plans.

Each student will gain a working knowledge of tactical IO, the IO core and supporting elements, and IO integration into both the military decision-making process (MDMP) and targeting process. Finally, the IO course graduate will be able to establish, plan, integrate, monitor and assess IO within the BCT, division and corps IO cells. For more information on this course and future course dates, contact Major Erin McDaniel at [e-mail] or DSN 639-1668 or commercial [phone].

A critical addition to the school's mission is a new EW course. The Army Operational EW Course will train future EW officers (EWOs) to plan, integrate, synchronize and execute EW according to their commanders' schemes of maneuver. In October 2006, we began training joint force personnel at Fort Sill to either perform duties as, or in support of, EWOs in units deploying in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), now called the War on Terrorism (WOT).

The intent is to train the EWO to advise the commander on all Army, joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational EW capabilities. Additionally, the EWO will be able to establish, plan, integrate, monitor and assess EW operations of the BCT, division and corps EW cells. This eight-week course is the first step in a new direction for Fort Sill as the Army's designated lead for electronic attack (EA). For more information on this course and the emergence of EA at Fort Sill, contact Major John Frisbie at [e-mail] or DSN 639-3427 or [phone].

Laser Designators. Our sensors have evolved as technology has improved. For more than 30 years, there has been a requirement to provide laser-guided technology to our military force. The initial laser designators were non-eye-safe lasers developed in the early 70s to aid in the delivery of munitions, such as Hellfire and Copperhead. The Army developed the ground/vehicular laser locator designator (G/VLLD) that uses a high-powered laser designator that is not eye-safe, is bulky and is quite heavy.

The need for lighter, eye-safe lasers and designators led to the development of the requirements document for the lightweight laser designator rangefinder (LLDR) for the FA branch and the continued pursuit of lighter, stronger lasers for the handheld community. Armor branch developed the long-range advanced scout surveillance system (LRA[S.sup.3]) for its scouts in the early 2000 era, and we adopted it with modifications as our mounted sensor of choice. We added the laser designator module from the LLDR and called it the fire support sensor system (F[S.sup.3]). It fits perfectly into the "three-tiered sensor strategy" to provide an adequate targeting capability for the 13F Fire Support Specialist Soldier. This strategy gives the 13F electro-optical sensors that are handheld, tripod-mounted and platform-mounted.

The Met Profiler. The advent of longer shooters and the need for target area Met data brought about the Profiler that originated from requirements documentation begun in October 1996. We began fielding the Profiler in FY06.

The Profiler uses a mesoscale model and software coupled with the unified post processing system to generate Met messages on demand. The mesoscale model ingests upper air data provided by the balloon-borne radiosonde, surface observation data, terrain data, regional observations and large-scale weather data. The resulting model output is a Met message. The model updates Met messages every 30 minutes.

Profiler generates Met data based on the gun and target locations out to a distance of 500 kilometers. Also, Profiler can operate in a degraded Met measuring system (MMS) mode when valid large-scale data is not available. Currently, 10 Profilers are providing Met data to forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

In the near future, we will not be dependent on flying balloons to produce Met messages. The value of the balloon will become insignificant once we have access to two-way secure satellite communications. This, along with advancements in software technology, will improve our accuracy, allowing us to continue to meet our precision munitions' requirements.

Radars. The AN/TPQ-48, known as the lightweight countermortar radar (LCMR), is envisioned as an additional capability to complement the current AN/TPQ-36 and 37 Firefinder radars. The Q-48 is a 360-degree search sector radar designed to acquire threat indirect fire systems. This system will help fill the sensor coverage gaps of fielded radars and fully supports the current and future force.

The initial LCMR, Increment I, was developed for use by the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and had a range of five kilometers with a target location error (TLE) of 100-plus meters. We fielded Increments I and II for deployment. Increment II provides more rugged hardware and better software. Increment II is a part of the counter rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) system of systems. Currently, we have 150 additional Increment II Q-48s under contract.

With Increment III, we will double the radar's range to 10 kilometers and increase its accuracy to a 50-meter TLE. We also have 13 Increment III Q-48s under contract for development and testing. Increment III will be fielded to brigade combat teams and fires brigades.

Command and Control. Fire support command and control systems are incorporating advanced technologies into current systems as we move toward the networked-enabled command capability. Improvements are directly linked to supporting units in the field. For example, the advanced FA tactical data system (AFATDS) has added the capability to streamline airspace deconfliction. This greatly decreases the time to clear GMLRS-U and ATACMS-U and minimizes the amount of airspace the munitions need. Look for AFATDS to transition to a Windows environment in FY08 and move toward an open architecture where fire support information will be available for anyone connected to the network.

The joint automated deep operations coordination system (JADOCS) is now an Army program being run by the fire support community. Besides improving several of its mission managers, it has an automated collateral damage estimation (CDE) tool that is being used in CENTCOM today.

The gun display unit-replacement (GDU-R) has been approved and will replace the obsolete GDU. There are several handheld devices available, easing light fire support operations: pocket-sized forward-entry device (PFED) for dismounted light observations and Centaur for fire direction center (FDC) operations.

By the way, all of our Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) systems managers (TSMs) who work these programs have now become TRADOC capabilities managers (TCMs) and are responsible for capability areas, not just systems.

C-RAM. Our enemy has changed as well. US and Coalition Forces deployed today face an asymmetrical counterinsurgency threat that capitalizes on using improvised explosives devices (IEDs) and indirect fires. The Army's C-RAM initiative is a system of systems that incorporates a holistic methodology to defeat these threats, using both lethal and nonlethal capabilities in a proactive and (or) reactive manner before, during and after the rocket, artillery or mortar is fired.

Deployed today, this system of systems is a combat multiplier working to save lives and giving the ground commander enhanced situational awareness and an ability to respond rapidly. As the TRA-DOC lead for C-RAM, the Fires COE will continue to work closely with units in the field to refine and improve C-RAM capabilities and embed them into the future force.

WOT Reset Task Force. I want to close with, perhaps, the most important issue facing us today. The FA branch has been performing a wide variety of Army missions and has done an outstanding job. Many FA units have been performing nonstandard missions. As a result, this has had a detrimental effect on our core competencies, both for FA individuals and units as a whole.

We greatly appreciate the input many resetting unit commanders gave us recently in response to the query on the impact these nonstandard missions are having on our lieutenants, NCOs and units. That input is the basis for the plans we are building to address redeployed unit training needs.

The FA School, with the Directorate of Training and Doctrine (DOTD) as the lead, is establishing a WOT Reset Task Force and designing mechanisms to help field commanders to "re-Red" their Soldiers and units as quickly as possible. We intend to go to units and, through the Army force generation (ARFORGEN) process, identify unit needs and then address how we can help units reset.

Fort Sill is working now to establish mechanisms to provide commanders a menu of training options tailorable to the needs of their units. Our intent is for the menu to include options ranging from distance learning (or reachback capabilities) to structured mobile training teams (MTTs) to help retrain individuals, sections, platoons and batteries in FA core capabilities.

Obviously, this plan requires resources--resources that we'll have to fight to find. But our branch is being tasked like no other to do exceedingly difficult and divergent nonstandard, though vital, missions that use different skills sets than those of our core competencies. FA units have done magnificently in performing a myriad of tasks, but we owe them as much help as possible to recertify their Field Artillerymen again.

Resetting units can expect to hear from us in the near future with our plans on how we can help them meet their training needs. We need leaders' input so we can finalize the plan, acquire the resources to execute the plan and get resetting units the help they need.

Upon further review, our branch has seen and enacted its share of change. We're better organized to support our Army's operations; we're improving and adapting our education courses and methods; and we're upgrading our weapons systems with an eye toward the future. But our mission and dedication to accomplishing it remain steadfast. The underlying purpose of everything we do is to provide fire support for the supported Army or joint commander. Field Artillery--King of Battle!

Major General David C. Ralston became the Chief of Field Artillery and Commanding General of the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in August 2005. Also at Fort Sill, he served as the Assistant Commandant of the Field Artillery School and Chief of Staff of the Field Artillery Center. His assignment prior to becoming Chief of Field Artillery was as the Director of Force Management on the Army Staff, G3, at the Pentagon. He also served as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations in the Kosovo Force. He commanded two batteries; the 3rd Battalion, 1st Field Artillery (3-1 FA) in the 1st Armored Division in Germany; and the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery at Fort Hood, Texas. In addition, in Germany, he served as a Brigade Fire Support Officer in the 1st Armored Division and, at Fort Hood, as the S3 for the 2nd Armored Division Artillery and Executive Officer for the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery. He holds an MA from Central Michigan University and was an Army Senior Service Fellow at Harvard University.

By Major General David C. Ralston

RELATED ARTICLE: NLOS-C 155-mm Firing Platform Prototype Unveiled

BAE Systems, Minneapolis, Minnesota, unveiled the future combat systems (FCS) non-line-of-sight cannon (NLOS-C) firing platform on 29 September 2006.

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The NLOS-C firing platform features a 38-caliber length, fully automated 155-mm howitzer and soon will be shipped to Army test facilities where it will begin qualification testing of its ultra-light-weight cannon and breech.

The 155-mm firing platform is the first step toward the development of an NLOS-C prototype scheduled to begin testing in 2008.