The FA and COIN: continuity and adaptation.

  During peacetime, the institutional Army drives change. During war,
the operating force drives change through gained combat experience.
General William S. Wallace, CG
Training and Doctrine Command
Military Review, March-April 2006

Counterinsurgency (COIN) operations are essential to the successful prosecution of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), and the Field Artillery plays vital roles in these operations. America's enemies continue to adapt to find ways to harm our country, our citizens, our allies and our Soldiers. They have adopted insurgent tactics to terrorize innocent civilians and attack free societies while avoiding direct confrontation with our conventional military power.

The Army, with its Field Artillery, is maintaining its military power in full-spectrum operations while adapting to defeat insurgents and must continue to do so.

Fostering a Culture of Adaptation. To defeat our enemies, we must embrace adaptation as a steady state rather than as an end state.

An adaptive organizational culture is necessarily decentralized. Commanders encourage adaptation by issuing an overall intent and mission orders to junior leaders and encouraging those leaders to accomplish the mission with available resources.

Moreover, an organizational culture of adaptation must apply to all that an organization does, both deployed and at home station, both in the field and garrison. A unit that operates in a decentralized manner in training builds the expertise, confidence and initiative of junior leaders and Soldiers, preparing them to succeed in COIN operations.

For example, the article in this edition by Lieutenant Colonel Pat Antonietti describes his fires battalion's training for and execution of decentralized platoon-based operations in Iraq. Until recently, Lieutenant Colonel Antonietti commanded the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery (1-41 FA), 3rd Infantry Division. During 1-41 FA's 12-month tour, his "Hot" platoons were dispersed throughout an area of operations (AO) the size of Maryland and fired almost 6,000 rounds in support of its 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT). For more details, see the article in this edition "1-41 FA, A Fires Battalion in OIF III: Supporting Decentralized 'Hot' Platoons and Other Missions."

Likewise our institutional, combat training center (CTC) and home-station training must foster a culture of adaptation in our leaders, Soldiers and units. We will never develop the "school solution" for COIN. Tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) that worked last year may not work next year, and TTPs that worked in one place may not work in another.

We must build near real-time feedback loops into our training and institutions to capture the TTPs of the continuously adapting insurgents. By building systems that tap into the expertise of units in GWOT down to the most junior leaders, we will ensure we can adapt faster than our enemies.

The FA School is trying to do its part in helping our operating forces adapt faster than our enemies.

School Programs and Initiatives. The Field Artillery School has several programs to provide more options for operating force commanders in COIN, both lethal and nonlethal, and initiatives to make the FA School more agile in adapting training for GWOT. These include fielding precision-guided munitions (PGMs), establishing specialized training for nonlethal capabilities, creating an innovative methodology to redesign school courses rapidly and standing up a cell and set of procedures to capture and incorporate GWOT FA lessons learned into institutional training.

PGMs and Targeting. In response to two operational needs statements (ONS) from the Central Command (CENT-COM) theater of operations, we fielded the M31 guided multiple-launch rocket system (GMLRS) unitary last summer and soon will field the XM982 Excalibur unitary, a 155-mm PGM.

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GMLRS unitary and Excalibur unitary are especially well suited for COIN in urban and close terrain, minimizing risks of fratricide and collateral damage and maximizing precision attack.

Army and Marine ground force commanders can employ these PGMs in all weather conditions, 24/7, as easily as a call-for-fire--no joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) are required. In addition, the forward observer (FO) on the front lines can determine the three-dimensional precision coordinates of a target's location precisely enough to fire a PGM in just minutes using the precision-strike suite Special Operations Forces (PSS-SOF) software. Both the GMLRS unitary, with a range of 17 to 70 kilometers, and Excalibur unitary with a range of 7,200 meters to 40 kilometers, have an accuracy of significantly less than 10-meter circular error probable (CEP).

In Iraq, GMLRS unitary employment successes--100 percent direct hits--are feeding further successes. It is rapidly becoming the weapon of choice for COIN operations. In fact, GMLRS unitary's accuracy caused one Marine to tag it his "70-kilometer sniper."

Excalibur unitary, the Army's first cannon-delivered fire-and-forget munition, can impact close to friendly troops--considerably closer than the current 600-meter restriction for danger-close fires. Its accuracy, non-ballistic trajectory, near vertical terminal angle of attack and 50-pound warhead allow it to take out an insurgent mortar crew or provide close support for friendly forces in urban terrain.

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For more information on these PGMs and other precision capabilities under development to support the full range of military operations plus PSS-SOF software for precision target location, see the article "FA PGMs--Revolutionizing Fires for the Ground Force Commander" by Colonel Gary S. Kinne, et al, in the May-June edition.

Nonlethal Attack Options. As we move through major combat operations (MCO) into stability and reconstruction operations (SRO) and COIN operations and finally into the final phase in which our forces turn over increasing operational responsibilities to the Iraqi security forces, there is a decrease in the demand for lethal effects and an increase in the requirement for nonlethal effects. An effective COIN requires a careful blend of lethal and nonlethal capabilities, including electronic warfare (EW) and tactical information operations (IO).

In May, the Combined Arms Center (CAC), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, directed the FA School to take the lead in developing training for EW officers (EWOs) at the operational level. EWOs will help commanders leverage emerging technologies to synchronize and integrate EW into operations, defeating insurgent improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other asymmetrical tactics.

We currently are updating the EWO's required competencies and will use the rapid course design process pioneered for the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) by the leadership of the FA Captain's Career Course (FACCC) to design the EWO course. This will allow us "to put boots on the ground" in theater as rapidly as possible.

According to Field Manual 3-07 Stability Operations and Support Operations (February, 2003, Page 3-4), "Success in counterinsurgency goes to the party that achieves the greater popular support." There is a direct correlation between the number of insurgent attacks, primarily IED attacks, and the level of Coalition support in a given area in Iraq. Our Coalition Forces must win the support of the Afghan and Iraqi people--it simply is not enough to maintain their neutrality.

Our three-week joint Tactical IO Course supports the tactical ground commander in COIN by training leaders and servicemen to win the support of the population. It trains joint personnel to integrate and synchronize the core, supporting and related IO functions into the commander's scheme of maneuver--including operational security, public affairs (PA), civil-military operations (CMO), EW, psychological operations (PSYOP) and other functions.

The final pilot Tactical 10 Course was conducted in April. Starting in June, we began the first of 10 courses per year with 30 students in each. Army personnel can sign up for the course via the Army training requirements and resources system (ATTRS). Joint personnel can sign up for the course by calling Major Erin A. McDaniels, Tactical IO Instructor, at DSN 639-1668/4508 or commercial [phone]/4508 or emailing him at [e-mail].

More Agility in Incorporating COIN Lessons Learned. Two recent initiatives are ensuring that FA School training reflects--and will continue to reflect--the contemporary operating environment (COE) with greater fidelity. The recent rapid redesign of our FACCC is a model we recommend for course redesigns/designs TRADOC-wide. In a related initiative, the FA School recently stood up the GWOT Lessons Learned Branch.

In March, the FACCC leadership created and implemented an innovative rapid course redesign process, updating the FACCC to reflect the COE, COIN and GWOT lessons learned. The FA School redesigned the 20-week course in 27 days and implemented the new course immediately. Using the traditional process, redesigning a course of this size would have taken months--probably years.

Along with tapping into the expertise of the FA School leadership, FACCC instructors, senior combat veterans, instructional systems technologists, senior trainers from the CTCs and other subject matter experts (SMEs), the leadership boldly stood down two classes of CCC students to help redesign the course. Most of the CCC students had had one tour in GWOT--many had had two tours. Once FACCC was redesigned, the two classes restarted in their respective weeks of the new CCC curriculum.

The total process took just under four weeks and not only incorporated the most up-to-date GWOT content very rapidly, it also updated instructional delivery methods to teach complex GWOT tasks in a continuous, realistic GWOT scenario. The teaching scenarios immerse the students in realistic complex challenges, helping to develop the captains into more agile, adaptive decision makers and leaders in the COE.

The FA School now is applying the same process to design not only the EWO course, but also to redesign the FA Warrant Officer's Advanced Course (WOAC) and is preparing to redesign other courses. This rapid course redesign model can be applied to courses throughout TRADOC.

For more information, see the articles "Rapid Redesign of FACCC: A Four-Week Process for Updating Courses for an Army at War" by Major Robert A. Krieg and "Redesigning the FACCC--The Deliberate versus Rapid Methodology" by Dr. Pamela L. Raymer, both in this edition.

In addition, the Directorate of Training and Doctrine (DOTD) in the FA School stood up a Lessons Learned Branch and process to more rapidly capture, analyze and disseminate GWOT lessons and TTPs for the school to incorporate into training, doctrine, material development, etc. The branch has linked its online site to the Fires Knowledge Network (FKN) on Army Knowledge Online (AKO), so Redlegs around the world can access the FA lessons learned or submit new ones.

Field Artillerymen as Pentathletes in COIN Operations. Our incredible Redleg Pentathletes who are performing multiple missions in GWOT continue to prove Field Artillerymen are some of the most creative, adaptive Soldiers and leaders in the Army.

Among many other missions, Field Artillerymen routinely serve as maneuver forces in COIN. The task of providing the civilian population security is essential in gaining their support in COIN--all that insurgents need to succeed is the passive support of the civilians. Host nation civilians who feel secure provide intelligence on the insurgents, engage in political processes, participate in economic reconstruction and embrace sectarian and ethnic reconciliation.

Another outstanding example of an FA battalion's being used as a maneuver battalion in CENTCOM is outlined in the article in this edition "Battlekings Return to Baghdad as a Maneuver Battalion: Doing More with Less" by Lieutenant Colonel Steve Merkel, Commander, and Major John Clement, Executive Officer, of 1-9 FA, 3rd Infantry Division.

Field Artillerymen also advise host nation security forces by serving on transition teams. The more Afghan and Iraqi military, police and border patrol units that are organized, equipped, trained and mentored, the more quickly Afghanistan and Iraq will be able to stand on their own against the insurgents, operating as free nations. Advising these host nation security forces is a priority mission for the Army.

While the Field Artillery and Army can take pride in adapting to the demands of GWOT, we never must become content with our accomplishments. In an Army in transformation and at war, change is the only constant.

Although COIN is the new way of war in GWOT today--and I suspect it will be for some time in the future--it is not the only way of war. As we adapt FA operations for COIN operations, we must continue to ensure Field Artillerymen can provide joint fires for ground commanders fighting at the high end of the spectrum.

Because the US military maintains its unprecedented capabilities, our enemies are afraid to mass, defend terrain or even remain stationary for long periods because they fear we will destroy them. In fact, our asymmetrical abilities to find and destroy targets quickly and precisely narrows our enemies' options and increases US joint options.

We must continue to maintain our continuity of unprecedented capabilities while simultaneously adapting to be effective in COIN and full-spectrum military operations.

Major General David C. Ralston

Chief of Field Artillery

RELATED ARTICLE: FA School Creates New Branch to Disseminate FA Lessons Learned

Sharing observations, insights and experiences from the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) and everyday training activities in preparation for GWOT is critical for current and future Field Artillery Soldiers. Lessons learned that apply to the force as a whole are available through the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) online at Army Knowledge Online (AKO), but this resource does not analyze lessons from an FA Soldier's perspective.

To provide an effective, efficient mechanism for the analysis and timely dissemination of practical FA lessons learned, the Field Artillery School's Directorate of Training and Doctrine (DOTD), Fort Sill, Oklahoma, recently created the Lessons Learned Branch.

Capturing and Incorporating Lessons Learned. Before the office was created, various organizations collected and analyzed FA lessons learned data in a variety of formats. Because lessons-learned solutions generally traverse the doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facilities (DOTMLPF) domains, the new branch organized a lessons learned work group with action officers representing each of the DOTMLPF stakeholders. This work group determines the scope of a field observation or problem, assigns and appropriate DOTMLPF agency to analyze and validate it, formulates a recommended solution and schedules a date of completion or implementation for the solution.

After analysis of each observation, insight or lesson learned, the ones validated are briefed to the FA Council of Colonels in the school with a course of action (COA) recommended for each. COAs might include incorporating the information into courses taught at the school, posting the information on Fires Knowledge Network (FKN) on AKO and notifying the relevant personnel of the posting, sending a commandant's message to the field, writing an article for Field Artillery, other means of information dissemination or a combination of several.

If the Council of Colonels approves the COA, the lessons learned and COA are briefed to the Assistant Commandant (AC) for approval and implementation.

The Lessons Learned Branch is online via the FKN's front page. From there, a Soldier can review validated and approved FA lessons learned or submit his own observations, insights or lessons learned.

When submitting observations or insights, contributors should include three basic paragraphs of information: the issue, a discussion of the details/background of the issue and a recommendation. Each contributor also should provide his or her name, unit, email address and phone number in case the Lessons Learned Branch needs additional details or clarification of the issue.

The Road Ahead. The Lessons Learned Branch is implementing several initiatives to provide efficient and meaningful service to the FA community. Action officers will visit field units regularly to observe exercises and visit post-deployment after-action reviews (AARs) to gather observations and insights for lessons learned. They also will link with CALL embeds in divisional units to capture FA issues.

The Lessons Learned Branch requests your support in capturing and disseminating critical FA lessons learned. If readers have questions or suggestions, they can contact the author at [e-mail] or submit lessons learned on FKN.

CSM(R) Jeffrey L. Moyer

FA Lessons Learned Branch, DOTD, FA School, Fort Sill, OK