Intermediate level education: helping to combat field artillery atrophy.

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The white paper The King and I: The impending crisis in field artillery's ability to provide fire support to maneuver commanders, which was written by three former brigade combat team commanders, openly challenges the deterioration of the field artillery branch at an alarming rate. The paper centers around the authors' assertion that "no branch of the Army has suffered a greater identity crisis than (the) field artillery, as a result of transformation, (counterinsurgency)--centric operations and the non-standard manpower demands of (Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom)." In light of this white paper, the Fires Center of Excellence and the Command and General Staff Officer College developed several initiatives to alleviate this perceived concern and help combat the atrophy of field artillery skills among the branch's mid-level officers.

Intermediate level education has always been viewed as a course that provides an officer the opportunity to build a solid educational foundation for future assignments. Unfortunately, unless an officer is selected for attendance at the War College, intermediate level education is probably the last educational opportunity for most field grade officers. Therefore, it is the last opportunity to provide both field artillery and maneuver officers the ability to gain higher-level proficiency in Fires during their field grade years. Intermediate level education provides a superb educational environment to make an impact on the skill set of field artillery mid-grade officers before they move into the critical positions of battalion executive officer, battalion operations officer and brigade fire support officer.

Core skills. The Fires Center of Excellence addressed this perception of deteriorating skills by developing the Field Artillery Campaign plan. It specifically laid out several programs to rebuild the field artillery experience base, re-establish training capacity and restore senior leader oversight. To rebuild the field artillery experience base, MG Peter Vangjel, former commanding general of the Fires Center of Excellence, proposed expanding the Field Artillery Captain's Career Course from 20 to 24 weeks; Pre-Command Course from two to three weeks and Noncommissioned Officer Education System up to four weeks. Second, he recommended increasing the emphasis on Fires within intermediate level education. By lengthening the courses and increasing the emphasis on fire support skills, Vangjel was attempting to broaden the professional knowledge foundation throughout the force.

Re-Redding training. The dilemma facing field artillery officers when they arrive at intermediate level education is they normally have come from a non-field artillery branch assignment. The normal career progression has these officers commanding a battery between their sixth and ninth years of service followed by a stint in an active or reserve training unit, teaching at a branch school or serving at recruiting command or in a non-field artillery coded position. In most instances, they have not served in a field artillery unit in two to three years. Couple this with numerous nonstandard missions, and many of these officers end up not performing field artillery core tasks in several years.

To combat this, the Fires Center of Excellence developed a "re-Redding" training program. This training is conducted one to two weeks prior to the start of the intermediate level education academic year and consists of a four-day training program designed to bring the incoming students up to speed on current doctrine; tactics, techniques and procedures; and field artillery operations (See the above figure for the program's curriculum). It focuses on both fire support officer and field artillery operations skills that will prepare these officers better to act as the subject matter expert within their 16-person staff group during the academic year and, ultimately, their future assignments. Classes use the existing curriculum from the Fire Support Coordinator, Joint Fires, Electronic Warfare and Information Operation Courses currently taught at Fort Sill, Okla.

Intermediate Level Education Core and Advanced Operations Courses. Students spend the majority of their time in the Core and Advanced Operations Courses discussing doctrine, tactics and complex problems at the strategic, operational and tactical levels. Using both the joint operation planning and execution system, and military decision making process, officers employ current doctrine to analyze and develop solutions to complex problems embedded in doctrine. Working as a member of a simulated joint and Army staff, each student analyzes and develops products from the Combined Forces Land Component Command to the brigade combat team perspective. These products include identifying the problem, mission analysis and development of an operations plan or order.

During the analysis, students discuss the various war fighting functions as well as the enablers that make a combined, division or brigade headquarters successful. Fires skills--both lethal and nonlethal fires--are discussed in various blocks of instruction at the macro level during both the Core and Advanced Operations Courses. The majority of the learning within each staff group occurs through discussions field artillery officers have with their fellow classmates as they work through complex and diverse problem sets. If an inbound field artillery officer is not well versed in lethal and nonlethal fires, then the staff group does not gain a full appreciation of how fires contribute to success in full-spectrum operations. It is, therefore, essential we bring each incoming officer up to speed on fire support matters so each staff group gets the full benefit of having a field artillery subject matter expect in its educational process. The "re-Redding" program significantly increases the skill set of each incoming field artillery officer and benefits not only the field artillery officer at intermediate level education, but, also, the entire staff group.

Electives. After completing the Core and Advanced Operations Courses' curriculum, officers are required to complete 192 hours of electives. They run the full gamut of full-spectrum operations and are taught by subject matter experts from within the college. In addition to supporting the students' overall long-term professional development, the electives provide an opportunity to focus on the students' educational needs for their upcoming assignments. The elective program supports the awarding of additional skill identifiers and is an integral part of the master of Military Art and Science Program. Electives also support the Command and General Staff School's language program, prepare selected students for the Advanced Military Studies Program offered by the School of Advanced Military Studies and give students the opportunity to enroll in electives to support their own goals.

We are constantly updating the course material to ensure it remains relevant and current and, more importantly, provides master's level expertise. Within the electives program, there are eight fires focused and related courses that field artillery officers entering intermediate level education should consider taking as part of their professional development. Senior artillerymen in the college challenge each incoming class to take these electives to build a strong foundation. Even with this challenge, the responsibility for self-improvement fully rests on each officer. All officers must look at their respective backgrounds and operational experiences, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, and select those electives that will improve their professional knowledge base.

The courses outlined below all contain either a pure Fires curriculum or focus on critical aspects of both lethal and nonlethal fires that will assist students in developing into well-rounded officers.

"A307 Fires in Contemporary Operations" encompasses discussions on the planning and synchronizing of both lethal and nonlethal fires at the division level and below.

"A335 S3/XO Roles in Full Spectrum Operations" focuses on preparing students to become successful battalion and brigade operations and executive officers. Classes focus on the duties and responsibilities of an operations and executive officer in developing intelligence preparation of the battlefield; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and targeting at the brigade level and below.

"A532 Joint Targeting and Effects" covers in detail, joint planning using the joint targeting model, the six-step targeting cycle and the four-step ground targeting cycle.

"A866 Joint Firepower Control" is modeled after the Joint Firepower Control Course academic curriculum taught by the Air-Ground Operations School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Students who complete this course earn the 5U Air Operations Officer Additional Skill Identifier.

"A544 Information Operations" examines this nonlethal fires capability at primarily the operational and strategic levels.

"A578 Fundamentals of Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations" explores the characteristics of psychological operations and civil affairs at the tactical and operational level as well as civil affairs units in global operations.

"A366 Joint Automated Deep Operations Coordination System Fundamentals" is designed as a hands-on class. It focuses on leadership and oversight skills required to understand the functions and capabilities of the Joint Automated Deep Operations Coordination System application in supporting the commander's decision-making process.

"A368 Digital Fire Support Operations--Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System/Effects Management Tool" is another hands-on course that provides students with a general understanding of the functions, capabilities and battlefield architecture issues relating to the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System and its client, the Effects Management Tool.

"Targeting in a Hybrid Environment" is a new elective designed to study the integration and coordination of all nonlethal enablers in an era of persistent conflict. The hybrid environment encompasses multiple threats and is more than just information exchange, and command and control warfare, but, also, includes civil affairs, civil military operations, space operations, and psychological operations. This initiative is critical because nonlethal specialists always will be warfighters in persistent conflict and, for the most part, fire support officers as integrators always will be at war. The class uses the Tactical Information Operations Course currently taught at Fort Sill as the base for this new course and, also, includes more diverse topics.

The classes cover a wide range of topics: interagency operations, partner and host nation concerns and issues, information operations from a joint perspective, commander's communications strategy, space support in the detect and deliver realm and working with contractors. The elective also discusses public diplomacy, theater security cooperation, intelligence support to nonlethal targeting, culture, religion and fires in support of U.S. Northern Command and homeland defense. This elective challenges the students to understand these complex issues fully and build a foundation to combat future adversaries.

Active participant. These are designed to improve lethal and nonlethal skills to make mid-level officers more successful across the full spectrum of operations. Now that these initiatives have been outlined in the Field Artillery Campaign Plan and become operational, the rest is up to field artillery officers across the force and, specifically, those officers about to attend intermediate level education.

Each field artillery officer needs to be an active participant in the "re-Redding" program at the beginning of intermediate level education to be the subject matter expert in his or her respective staff group. Each must be an advocate within his staff group for both lethal and nonlethal fires during the numerous joint operation planning and execution system and military decision-making process planning sessions throughout the academic year.

These officers must identify electives within the Fires realm that best benefit their background and experience. Using these initiatives and programs, mid-level field artillery officers can ensure they remain relevant and current as they go back to the field, combat the degradation of Fires skills and assume critical roles in fires battalions and brigades.

By COL (Ret.) James L. Davis

Colonel (Retired) James L. Davis, field artillery, is an assistant professor in the Center for Army Tactics and the field artillery subject expert for the Command and General Staff College. His previous assignments include commander of the fire Support Test Directorate; commander of the 6th Battalion, 27th field Artillery; and G3, III Corps Artillery, all at fort Sill, Okla.; battalion S-3 of 4th Battalion, 27th field Artillery; battalion executive officer of 1st Battalion, 27th field Artillery; brigade S3 and executive officers of the 41st field Artillery Brigade, all in Babenhausen, Germany. Davis holds a bachelor's degree in History from Louisiana State University, La., and two master's degrees--Management from Webster University and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

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Field artillery "re-Redding" curriculum

Day 1               Day 2               Day 3             Day 4

* Brigade combat    * Concept of        * Cannon          * Field
team/Fires cell     Fires               precision         artillery
                    development         Fires/Guided      operations
* Lines of effort                       Multiple-Launch
                    * Accuracy          Rocket System     * Fires
* Decide, detect,   versus precision                      Knowledge
deliver  and        (Precision-Strike   * Targeting       Network
assess targeting    Suite-Special       meetings,         reach back
process             Operations          working groups
                    Force)              and boards        * Training
* Assessment                                              and Doctrine
                    * Collateral        * Rehearsal/      Command
* "Liberty          damage              battle            Capabilities
Thunder"            estimate            drills            Manager
operations
order brief         * Joint air         * Fire support    * Cannon,
                    support             coordinator       rockets and
                    planning            trends            missiles,
                                                          and sensors
                    * Airspace
                    command and
                    control

                    * Electronic
                    warfare
                    planning and
                    integration