Lethal and nonlethal fires and effects. (The Update Point).

The Field Artillery serves to destroy our enemy's warfighting capability.. .his military personnel and equipment... the momentum of his efforts... the cohesion within his formations.. .the morale of his soldiers and the hope of those who lead his formations. The Field Artillery has always brought devastating physical and psychological effects to the battlefield and will continue to do so today and in the future.

Across our Army, Redlegs are prepared to answer the nation's call. Field Artillery units already have deployed to the Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility and are training intensely for the possibility that their fires will be called for in the near term. Other Field Artillery units, both active and Army National Guard, have prepared their soldiers and equipment and are deploying or mobilizing. Still other Field Artillery soldiers stand ready to defend freedom on the Korean peninsula, where the destructive potential of their fires serves to deter aggression.

These soldiers are well trained, a reflection of the tremendous leaders who command our FA formations. They have the capabilities to enable the employment of joint systems and deliver incredibly lethal effects in support of our maneuver formations. If called upon, they will deliver--with accuracy and timeliness--the destructive fires that are the Field Artillery's reason for being.

Every view we have of future warfare indicates that indirect fires applied with precision to achieve destructive effects will remain the most lethal capability in our formations. In fact, our emerging Objective Force doctrine gives every indication that the importance of indirect fires will increase.

Operations in the future will be characterized by our employing a robust suite of targeting platforms, engaging enemy forces beyond the range of their weapons and destroying them with fires. This will enable us to enter close combat, if required, at a significant advantage. In addition to destructive fires, the force will require suppressive, protective and special purpose fires.

We must be able to deliver each of these types of fires in varied terrain conditions, including complex, open rolling, jungle and urban environments. We must have munitions that can achieve precision with area options. We also need discriminating capabilities.

And, significantly, to achieve full spectrum relevance, the Field Artillery must be able to coordinate and deliver a wide range of nonlethal effects. Nonlethal effects certainly include information operations (IO) and psychological operations (PSYOP) that our fires and effects cells will coordinate. They also should include the many capabilities the science and technology community is now developing that can be emplaced by Field Artillery delivery systems.

The ability to deliver nonlethal effects is particularly important in the urban environment where we may want to limit collateral damage or effects on noncombatants. Nonlethal munitions will enable the Field Artillery to make a significant, essential contribution to the force at any point on the spectrum of operations. In particular, our relevance in small-scale contingencies and peace support operations will be greatly enhanced by having additional nonlethal capabilities.

The Army will be dominant across the operational spectrum. The Field Artillery must provide capabilities to enable the Army to achieve that dominance. The Objective Force is being designed with characteristics to enable full-spectrum dominance--they apply equally to the Field Artillery. (See the figure.)

These characteristics provide insight into how future Field Artillery systems and capabilities will be designed and how the Field Artillery will operate. They indicate that the Field Artillery can be the instrument to employ a broader range of nonlethal capabilities effectively in many environments, across the entire spectrum of military operations. Ultimately, however, the force must be highly lethal in high-intensity combat--and so must the FA.

The Field Artillery is recognized as "The Greatest Killer on the Battlefield" for good reason. I don't expect that to change as a result of transformation. Let there be no doubt that the primary purpose of Field Artillery fires, both today and in the future, will be to destroy our adversaries.

RELATED ARTICLE: FA Characteristics to Enable Objective Force

Full-Spectrum Dominance 

* Responsive in providing fires and effects to joint and combined arms formations at every echelon to dominate over a dispersed battlefield against an adaptive threat that is not templatable.

* Deployable as an integral element of the joint task force and our maneuver formations.

* Agile to enable rapid tailoring of capabilities to meet the requirements of any mission.

* Versatile to contribute in a significant, essential way across the spectrum of operations and in all environments, applying the right effect at the right place at the right time.

* Lethal through networked battle command, detection of targets and application of fires and effects. Survivable by proactively attacking threats to shield units and protect soldiers.

* Sustainable through more efficient and effective target attack to reduce logistical demand.