Restructuring Gunnery in the Captains Career Course.

"The scheme of fires was totally out of synch with the scheme of maneuver." "There was no focus of fires." "Fires were not timely." "Volume of fire was not sufficient." How many times have artilleryman heard these comments during after-action reviews (AARs) at the Combat Training Centers (CTCs)? Worse yet, how many times have we heard them from our maneuver counterparts?

When we examine the individual within the unit who is responsible for ensuring fires are successful in both the fire support and fire direction arenas, he is usually a captain. Captains are the leaders on the ground who make or break units.

In the Field Artillery School, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, we recognize this. After much analysis, we altered our Captains Career Course (CCC) instructional material to produce a better-trained captain for the force and fleet.

Beginning in FY02, the Gunnery Department revamped CCC instructional material. The new instruction is designed to produce a more complete, tactical artilleryman.

The model we are using for this instruction is the battalion fire direction officer (FDO). However, this instruction covers a wide enough array of battalion-level subjects to benefit future fire support officers (FSOs), assistant S3s and battery commanders.

Battalion FDO Model. We use the battalion FDO as the focal point of our instruction because in tactical operations involving a battalion's delivery of fires, he is probably the most important individual in the battalion. He is the one who receives multiple calls-for-fire, decides which targets to attack and how to attack them, and decides what assets to use. Finally, he ensures his unit attacks those targets accurately and in a timely manner.

In a perfect world, the battalion FDO receives guidance and assistance in determining which targets to attack from the fire support coordinator (FSCOORD), the brigade FSO, the task force FSOs and his battalion S3. However, many times this guidance is not available due to the operational tempo of a battle, and the battalion FDO is forced to decide which missions are fired.

For this reason, a battalion FDO must be well-versed in both fire support and fire direction. He must be able to turn requests for fire from maneuver into accurate, timely fires from FA units.

No other position in an FA battalion requires such universal knowledge of our craft. Thus, our instruction covers a broad range of subjects that tie the tactical skills required in fire support to the technical skills required in gunnery.

Not all graduates of CCC will become battalion FDOs. However, because of the comprehensive nature of the job, if students understand and can perform the technical and tactical FDO tasks, it will improve their performance in whatever FA positions they hold.

Instruction Modification. The Gunnery Department CCC instruction previously consisted of 74 hours of manual gunnery and 32 hours of battery computer system (BCS). (See the figure.) The content of the instruction was similar to that of the Officer Basic Course (OBC) but in a much accelerated time line.

Starting in FY02, all CCC students now receive 72 hours of instruction on the advanced Field Artillery tactical data system (AFATDS) Version A99 software. This instruction is taught by NCOs from the Fire Support and Combined Arms Operations Department in the Field Artillery School and consists mostly of instruction on the technical aspects of AFATDS.

Although most units today do not rely on manual gunnery as their primary means of technical fire direction, the FA School continues to teach some manual gunnery to the captains. There are several reasons for this. First, many CCC students' first assignments were with multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) units where they didn't apply cannon gunnery fundamentals. The best method to reintroduce them to the cannon principles is to go back to the basics.

The next, and probably most important, reason is that manual gunnery contains the concepts we use for troubleshooting inaccurate fires. As captains, CCC graduates will be in positions where they will be expected to do this. Manual gunnery is the best method to teach ballistic theory and troubleshooting concepts. Although manual gunnery instruction is important, captains will not hold positions where they have to compute firing data manually.

There are other areas in which an FA captain should be proficient. To better balance these areas, we reduced our traditional gunnery instruction (manual/BCS) from 106 to 64 hours and added 12 hours of instruction on AFATDS Version A99 technical fire direction. This is important because AFATDS A99 started replacing BCS in fire direction centers (FDCs) in FY02. We also introduced 30 hours of advanced battalion level instruction.

The advanced battalion-level instruction follows the traditional gunnery and AFATDS instruction in sequence. The objective is to tie gunnery-related instruction to the tactical fire direction instruction received in AFATDS classes. In essence, this is what a battalion FDO should be able to do. He must be able to attack targets (tactical fire direction) and do so in an accurate, timely manner (technical fire direction).

The advanced battalion-level instruction is in three basic blocks and introduces several topics that FA captains should be familiar with. The first block covers coordinating the accurate massing of battalion fires. Subjects instructed in this block include battalion muzzle velocity management, battalion projectile/propellant lot management, applying meteorological messages, registrations, technical rehearsals and troubleshooting inaccurate fires.

The second block covers tactical fire direction. Subjects included in this block are focusing fires effectively, ensuring proper munitions and volume are fired to achieve the commander's intent, conducting automated tactical fire direction with AFATDS and conducting tactical fire direction for special munitions, such as family of scatterable mines (FASCAM) and smoke.

The third block covers conducting digital fire control within a battalion. Subjects covered in this block include establishing and following a digital fire mission processing standing operating procedure (SOP), conducting digital sustainment training and conducting digital fire control in support of a maneuver battle.

If graduating captains can comprehend and apply the principles taught in our revised gunnery instruction as well as apply the battalion-level fire support instruction, they will be better prepared to positively impact the performance of their gaining units.

Major Stephen A. Wertz is the Chief of the Fire Direction Branch in the Cannon Division of the Gunnery Department at the Field Artillery School, Fort Sill Oklahoma. His previous jobs in the Gunnery Department include serving as Chief of the Weapons Branch, Gunnery Instructor in the Officers Basic Course (OBC) and Captains Career Course (CCC) and Battery Trainer on the Paladin New Equipment Training Team (NETT). He previously was the Squadron Fire Support Officer (FSO) and the Regimental FSO in the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colorado, and commanded 1st Squadron's Howitzer Battery. He also served with the 2d Battalion, 18th Field Artillery of the 212th Field Artillery Brigade, part of III Corps Artillery at Fort Sill, as a Battery Fire Direction Officer (FDO), Firing Platoon Leader and Battalion FDO.

                  Instruction in FY01  Instruction in FY02

Manual Gunnery/           74                   40
Ballistic Theory
BCS                       32                   24
AFATDS Technical           0                   12
Fire Direction
Advanced                   0                   30
Battalion level

Legend:

AFTADS = Advanced FA Tactical Data System

BCS = Battery Computer System

Changes in Field Artillery Captains Career Course (CCC) Types and Hours
of Gunnery Instruction

Note: Table made from bar graph