Strategy for the Future.

It is my great privilege to assume responsibilities as the Chief of Field Artillery for our Army and follow many distinguished Chiefs who so ably have led the Field Artillery. I realize the importance of sustaining the proud traditions of our branch and ensuring Field Artillerymen are trained to succeed in their units, are ready to deploy and win decisively, have modernized weapons and fire support systems, and have new concepts and capabilities to enable fires and effects as key components of our transformed Army.

The Field Artillery has a tremendous history. Its legacy to the nation and Army in conflict is remarkable. The nation and our fellow soldiers have relied on our gunners' competencies and our weapons' capabilities to deliver decisive effects throughout the Army's history. Those combat-experienced soldiers who know firsthand the devastating physical and psychological effects achieved with fires realize the tactical and operational advantage that our firepower provides. They are among the Field Artillery's greatest advocates.

The Challenges. But the FA' s historical accomplishments are insufficient to persuade many of our continued responsiveness and relevance. This is particularly true in our current training and operational environments--largely the Combat Training Centers (CTCs) for high-intensity conflict training and small-scale contingencies (SSCs) for engagements. Equally significant is the view that we are too focused on the process of delivering fires rather than on the effects our fires must deliver.

I agree with my predecessor Major General Toney Stricklin who wrote in his final column, "We, the branch, as well as the Army as a whole do have a problem providing responsive and accurate close supporting fires" ("Field Artillery Relevant, Trained and Ready... Two Years Later," July-August). He laid out a strategy for improving home-station training, conducting quality training for our observers, restricting the execution of unobserved fires, establishing true sensor-to-shooter linkages and better digital fires, achieving better effects replication, enhancing our simulations and decentralizing execution.

This strategy addresses concerns of our Army's senior maneuver commanders who frequently cite problems with lack of precision in target location, lack of sensor-to-shooter linkages, too many intervention points in the advanced FA tactical data system (AFATDS), lack of integrated combined arms training at home station, the production of products rather than results and inadequate replication of indirect fire effects during training. It is imperative that we, the current FA leaders, develop and implement solutions to train our soldiers and produce results in our training centers and warfighting exercises.

My Commitment. FM 1 The Army, published this summer, establishes the Army's doctrine for employing land power in support of our National Military Strategy. It establishes the core competencies of our Army, including being capable of "sustained land dominance." Our doctrine states, "The Army is capable of attacking an enemy directly or indirectly with lethal and nonlethal means through the synergistic application of precision fires and maneuver....the goal of future operations will be to simultaneously attack critical targets throughout the area of operations by rapid maneuver and precision fires."

The Field Artillery is now and will continue to be an integral part of that nonnegotiable contract with the American people to fight and win our nation's wars.

Our Army has embarked on a process of transformation in which the Field Artillery must participate. This does not mean we'll disregard our tremendous legacy or competencies that in the past enabled us to be an integral part of the combined arms team. It does mean we must seek new technologies to enable tactical standoff and massing of effects and new capabilities and operating methodologies to enhance the quality and precision of our fires.

The qualities sought in the Objective Force are those that always have described the Field Artillery: lethal, agile, survivable and versatile--but we must again prove our responsiveness and develop both deployability and sustainability through increased precision and bold innovation--qualities that will be critical on the future battlefield.

We must attract, train, retain and grow adaptive leaders; continue to provide our operating forces competent deployable soldiers, maintain full partnership with our Reserve Component Field Artillerymen; enhance our training methodologies, devices and simulations significantly; and advance our proficiencies in joint fire support. It is imperative we operate seamlessly as an integral part of the combined arms team.

Our challenge is to prove the relevance of our branch by demonstrating our abilities to provide our maneuver brethren timely, accurate fires; simultaneously we must take advantage of the opportunity to shape the composition and capabilities of the Field Artillery in the Objective Force by transforming fires.

I look forward to serving with you as we take this branch forward. Cedat Fortuna Peritis--Let Fortune Yield to Experience. Skill is better than luck.