Transformation--The Way Ahead. (The Update Point).None of us will ever torget the attacks on our nation that occurred on 11 September 2001. The images of the World Trade Center collapsing and the smoke billowing bil·low n. 1. A large wave or swell of water. 2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound. v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows v.intr. 1. from the Pentagon will forever play over again in our minds. So will the images of our national colors being raised in the rubbled streets of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and the Stars and Stripes Stars and Stripes nickname for the U.S. flag. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 8567] See : America being draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. from the blackened black·en v. black·ened, black·en·ing, black·ens v.tr. 1. To make black. 2. To sully or defame: a scandal that blackened the mayor's name. 3. walls of the Pentagon. Today, men and women from the Army and our sister services and agencies are engaged in a war against terrorists and those who aid them. The events of 11 September again have reminded those who serve that we have accepted the noble task of defending our nation's freedoms and again have caused all Americans to appreciate that "Freedom Isn't Free." The Challenges. Accomplishing this profound responsibility requires us to be ready today to respond to the challenges of the contemporary operating environment In computing, an operating environment is the environment in which users run programs, whether in a command line interface, such as in MS-DOS or the Unix shell, or in a graphical user interface, such as in the Macintosh operating system. and to be ready tomorrow to meet the demands of the future by increasing our commitment to Transformation. It means we have to invest our best professional and intellectual effort in developing leaders to deal with the complexities of today's world and the diverse challenges of tomorrow's battlefield. It means we must find solutions to materiel ma·te·ri·el or ma·té·ri·el n. The equipment, apparatus, and supplies of a military force or other organization. See Synonyms at equipment. issues affecting our current operating force and take advantage of emerging technologies to develop those capabilities that our Army and the Field Artillery will require as we transform. It also means we must develop and adapt the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) for responsive lethal fires whenever we are called, wherever in the world we deploy and in whatever operational environment we are asked to defend our nation's interests. FA Worldwide Operations. The world environment in which we operate today clearly reinforces the importance of each component of the broad range of Field Artillery and fire support capabilities. Operations in Afghanistan include special operating forces Those forces whose primary missions are to participate in combat and the integral supporting elements thereof. See also combat forces; combat service support element; combat support elements. on the ground, enabling the delivery of joint fires Fires produced during the employment of forces from two or more components in coordinated action toward a common objective. See also fires. with precision targeting. These operations also have the potential for committing light forces with rapidly deployable, responsive fire support. Korea, a theater constrained by terrain and weather, demands a fires-centric strategy and heavy forces to counter the adversary's ground-based, long-range precision strike assets and his ability to mass forces. In the Balkans, Field Artillery units continue to provide a broad range of capabilities across the spectrum. We have howitzer howitzer: see artillery. crews prepared for the potential of conflict, Firefinder radars providing protection to the force, special munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. effects to enhance maneuver and responsibility for the effects produced by information operations, a process naturally linked to our targeting methodologies. Today, the Field Artillery is preparing for and executing a broad range of fires and effects across the full spectrum of military operations in a wide variety of operating environments. The Way Ahead. Transformation is with us now and will lead to our success in the future. Transforming the Field Artillery requires we adapt units and tactics to the current operating environment. It necessitates the continued development of fires and effects capabilities for the Interim Force and, ultimately, the accelerated design and fielding of dominant fires organizations. Such organizations must be able to deliver highly lethal, overmatching fires and potent enabling effects on demand for the Objective Force. Our traditional role in counterfire is transitioning from what has been largely a reactive process into "proactive counterfire." The process will evolve into a fully integrated offensive counterstrike system to shield the Objective Force and enable its freedom of action. We understand the importance of effects and the significance of being able to deliver them rather than simply to coordinate them. The Field Artillery has led the way in developing and executing information operations in the Balkans, and we can derive much from that experience as we assume responsibility for producing a full range of lethal and nonlethal effects on demand. The effort to coordinate fires and effects is underway in the Initial Brigade Combat Team The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the US Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branched maneuver brigade, and its attached support and fire units. (IBCT IBCT Infantry Brigade Combat Team IBCT Interim Brigade Combat Team (US Army) IBCT Initial Brigade Combat Team IBCT Institute for Business Continuity Training IBCT Ingénierie et Biologie Cellulaire et Tisulaire ) at Fort Lewis, Washington. The insights derived from the IBCT fires and effects coordination cell's (FECC's) coordination of both lethal and nonlethal strikes ultimately will help us transform into a responsive, networked means to deliver the effects required for dominant maneuver. The events of 11 September confirm the operational environment we face and have caused us to accelerate rather than redirect the Transformation process. Transforming fires and developing enabling effects will be a dynamic, evolutionary process, one that calls for our collective effort. Together, we must leverage emerging technologies and develop the doctrine, TTPs, organizational structures and weapons systems to enable the Field Artillery to play a dominant role in the Objective Force. I close by asking each of you to remember our fellow service members engaged in the current fight and support those who may be called to fight. They will have Priority of Fires from the Home of Field Artillery. |
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