Joint Fires and Effects in the Heavy Brigade Combat Team

“Infantry, cavalry and artillery cannot dispense with each other. They ought to be quartered in such a manner as always to be able to support each other in case of surprise.” — Napoleon’s Maxim of War #47 The U. S. Army is rapidly transitioning to a more deployable and tailored modular force. We are moving quickly to leverage the momentum created as we fight the Global War on Terrorism, as well as relieve the pressure on the all-volunteer Army and reduce the length of current deployments. In the modular force, the centerpiece of Army combat power is the brigade combat team (BCT). The BCT is a highly capable organization that develops great synergy and combat effectiveness through daily interaction and unit training. This synergy and effectiveness is why the Army has always used this approach to organize maneuver brigades for combat. Maneuver brigades have always had a cannon artillery battalion in direct support (DS). Maneuver brigade, battalion/ squadron, and company/troop commanders have always had fire support officers (FSOs) and fire support elements (FSEs) in their operations centers and command posts. Modularity formalizes what we have always done and establishes new terms and responsibilities. The field artillery branch has three priorities as the Army stands up modular units: supporting the Army’s transition to 48 BCTs, which means growing organic fires battalions for the new BCTs and getting the right soldiers and equipment to those formations; converting FSEs to fires and effects cells (FECs), which requires the best fire supporters possible because FECs are the backbone of joint fires and effects from company level through unit of employment operational level headquarters (UEy); and build ing fires brigades — ideally, one for every unit of employment higher tactical headquarters (UEx). Joint Fires and Effects BCT and Below The fires battalion. The core of the BCT commander’s joint fires and effects system is the organic fires battalion, as shown in Figure 1. The fires battalion provides immediately responsive, all-weather, all-terrain, close-supporting precision and suppressive fires for the BCT. The fires battalion has two firing batteries and each battery has two, four-gun platoons. While massing all 16 Paladin howitzers is an option for some missions, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) experiences show we are more likely to see the battalion deployed in platoon-sized, four-gun formations, tracking patrols and laying on the highest priority targets. The four firing platoons provide this capability. If you receive a reinforcing cannon battalion from the fires brigade in the UEx, your capability is doubled. The fires battalion commander wears two hats: he commands the 16-gun fires battalion and is the BCT commander’s senior fires and effects advisor and trainer. He provides advice, training standardization, assessment, and oversight for the fires and effects team in the BCT. The fires battalion commander and his staff are great training resources for maneuver battalion and company commanders. They can provide the right senior leader field artillery oversight of fire supporters during maneuver and combined arms training. Training the team is not about ownership. Training the team is about working to make the organization the best it can be. In the same way a football team has only one head coach, who is assisted by specialty coaches for the special teams or defensive backfield, the BCT commander has the fires battalion commander to provide employment advice and take responsibility for training the fires and effects team. He’s not the head coach — outside of the fires battalion — but he does bring specialized tactical and training expertise to the team. There is a target acquisition platoon in the headquarters battery of the fires battalion. The platoon gives the battalion its own organic survey, meteorology, and a robust target acquisition capability with one Q36 and one Q37 firefinder radar system. These two organic target acquisition radars give the BCT commander the flexibility to disperse ground forces across a wider area or operate in several different areas. The longer range Q37 also allows coverage at greater distances, such as forward in a BCT security area or along a main supply route (MSR). In Iraq, enemy rockets and mortars are a grave concern and threat to U. S. soldiers. Just as the Army established an improvised explosive device task force to address tactics, techniques, and procedures, as well as material solutions for IEDs, it also established a counterstrike task force to address rocket and mortar threats. One important result is the quick deployment of the lightweight countermortar radar (LCMR) to Iraq. The LCMR is an off-the-shelf product developed for Special Operations Forces and currently has great value for all forces in Iraq. It is a lightweight, portable system that covers a high-value point asset with 360-degree detection of enemy mortars to a range of six kilometers. We are working to extend the LCMR’s range to 10 kilometers and increase its accuracy to 25 meters, which will achieve lethality in total radar coverage and allow the enemy one chance to fire before we destroy him and his systems. FEC in the BCT Once the fires battalions are stood up, organizing FECs with the very best fire sup porters is the next priority — for good reason. Fires, effects, and maneuver are inseparable, even more so now because FECs are organic to the BCT and battalion headquarters (see Figure 2). The effects coordinator (ECOORD), who is responsible for coordinating joint fires and effects, manages the FEC. The BCT ECOORD is afield artillery lieutenant colonel, but you will likely see a major in this position in the foreseeable future. At the maneuver battalion, the fires officer remains a captain — both of these officers are very capable of leading the joint fires and effects team. In continuing the professional development of our fires and effects officers and noncommissioned officers, in September 2004, we began teaching a three-week joint fires and effects course (JFEC) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The JFEC brings in instructors from all services to train senior fires and effects leaders on the full range of joint fires and effects. Also, during second quarter of fiscal year (FY) 05, we will begin teaching the Tactical Information Operations Course, BCT and below, at Fort Sill. It is the sister course to the Information Operations Course, UEx and above, taught at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Fires and Effects in Maneuver Battalions The fire supporters, who serve at the maneuver battalions and companies, continue to be field artillery’s backbone. They focus on our bread and butter mission — close supporting fires and effects for ma- x 8 TA 1 x Q-36 1 x Q-37 4 x LCMR 1 x Profiler 2 x IPADS FSC = Forward Support Company HHB = Headquarters and Headquarters Battery IPADS = Improved Position and Azimuth Determining System LCMR = Lightweight Countermortar Radar Legend: Figure 1. Fires Battalion for the Heavy Brigade Combat Team (BCT) “The fires battalion commander wears two hats: he commands the 16-gun fires battalion and is the BCT commander’s senior fires and effects advisor and trainer. He provides advice, training standardization, assessment, and oversight for the fires and effects team in the BCT. The fires battalion commander and his staff are great training resources for maneuver battalion and company commanders. They can provide the right senior leader field artillery oversight of fire supporters during maneuver and combined arms training.” — 15 neuver forces. The armor and rifle company Bradley fire support teams (BFISTs) are now organic to maneuver battalions. As you know, these fires experts are in your formations primarily to provide immediate access to fires and coordinate fires and effects for your unit. I have had several discussions with the chiefs of both infantry and armor as to how they can get the most from these artillery soldiers. True, they are combat leaders, fully capable of executing combat arms missions. However, their primary mission is fires, not missions as additional maneuver lieutenants. There have been discussions of where these fire supporters should be located in the company, maneuver battalion, and BCT. Where they “live” is not the real issue — it’s not about ownership — the entire fire battalion/fires and effects organization belongs to the BCT commander. It is about training, certifying, and employing these teams. Whether fire support teams (FISTs) are consolidated at the headquarters and headquarters company of the BCT, or at the headquarters and headquarters squadron for the fires battalion, then moved to the companies for execution, your fire supporters will be most effective if you can execute consolidated training. The best fires and effects trainers in the BCT are the fires battalion commander and the ECOORD. The best fires and effects trainer at the BCT FEC is the effects NCO. These experts can help manage the training schedule to balance maneuver, fires support, and digital skills. The capabilities of the company fire support team are already significant and will increase markedly in the near term. The M7 BFIST and the upgraded A3 variant are combat-proven systems and far superior to the M981 fire support team vehicle (FIST-V). A series of upcoming laser rangefinder and designation systems will soon be fielded to these teams, which will further reduce target location error (TLE) and increase observation range. The light weight laser designator/rangefinder (LLDR) will give fire support teams a much needed, lightweight designation capability when they are dismounted. Platoon forward observers in rifle companies are being outfitted with the Mark VII or Viper handheld rangefinder. This is already a great improvement over the mini eye-safe laser infrared observation system (MELIOS) and will continually improve. The combat observation lasing teams (COLTs) have the Knight fire-support vehicle that will be outfitted with the fire-support sensor system, which is a laser designator module combined with the long-range advanced scout surveillance system (LRAS3). Combat experience has shown that there are too few U. S. Air Force joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) to meet the demands of terminal control of close air support (CAS). This capability is currently at maneuver battalion levels, and the Army realizes the modular force requires the capability down to the maneuver company level. Training, certifying, and sustaining the number of JTACs to meet this need will probably require the Army to certify soldiers in terminal control of CAS. We intend to make heavy investments in the CAS area with our 13F30 and 13F40 fire support NCOs. The 3d Infantry Division recently sent almost two-dozen fire supporters to Nellis Air Force Base to train and certify for types 2 and 3 CAS. We will continue this training, and at the end of the day, we believe we can also train soldiers to control Type I CAS (control the aircraft all the way to the target). This requires extensive training and equipment solutions to meet joint force standards. Concerning joint fires, we may have caused some confusion with the term “universal observer.” The more appropriate term is “joint fires observer” (JFO), and we are in the process of correcting this term and its definition through joint channels. A JFO is a member of any service, normally sergeant or above, who is trained and certified to plan and execute effects from U. S. Army, U. S. Marine, and U. S. Navy fires, as well as coordinating types 2 and 3 CAS. Because the fires battalion is now a two-firing battery organization, there is essentially an open battery from a command, control, and training perspective. It may be a good idea to assign the maneuver battalion’s heavy mortar platoons to the fires battalion for training and certification — they would move out with the maneuver battalion for combined arms training and execution. The mortars always have been sacred — an organic fires capability for the maneuver battalion commander — and so they remain. Again, it is an issue of how best to train and certify individual and collective fires tasks de-
1 per Bn
2 per RSTA
3 per Recon Squadron

Lethal

Nonlethal Infantry/Combined Arms Battalion Fire Cells RSTA and Armed Recon Squadron* Fire Cells The Infantry and Stryker BCTs have a total of 4 COLTs while the Heavy BCT has 5 COLTs. *RSTA is in the Infantry and Stryker BCTs; Armed Recon Squadron is in the Heavy BCT. COLT = Combat Observation Lasing Team RSTA = Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition Squadron TACP = Tactical Air Control Party Legend: Figure 2. Infantry and Heavy BCT Fires and Effects Cell (FEC) and Fires Cells. The FEC includes information operations (IO), psychological operations (PSYOP), civil affairs (CA), and electronic warfare (EW) personnel. 16 — manded of these tremendously capable combat arms soldiers. Joint Fires and Effects for the UEx The fires brigade will come to the fight with a mix of both rocket/missile and cannon battalions. As mentioned earlier, in most situations the cannon battalions are pushed down to thicken and reinforce the fight where the UEx commander has the most concern. The remaining rocket/missile battalions, which include the tracked multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) with two “six packs” of rockets and the wheeled high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) with one “six pack” of rockets, are positioned to shape the UEx fight to set successful conditions for the BCTs. These battalions also conduct counterstrike fires, which include both proactive counterfire (attacking the enemy’s fires systems before they are employed), and the traditional reactive counterfire with firefinder radars and delivery systems. We are continuing to develop a host of precision munitions that will be better suited for precision strikes in areas where collateral effects must be minimized. We are testing an MLRS rocket in which we have replaced the rocket’s individual submunitions with a single explosive munition and have matched it with a guidance system. The result is a very responsive, extremely precise, all-weather, all-terrain attack capability for the maneuver commander. Its precision reduces the minimum safe distance at which you can fire the guided rocket in relation to friendly forces. Joint Fires and Effects is What We Do Making fires battalions organic to the brigade combat team will undoubtedly result in a highly cohesive and effective team. Our fires-and-effects leaders are good at joint fires and effects, and we continue to push the envelope by training them right and equipping them with the best. Fires brigade and battalion commanders and their staffs are great assets for maneuver commanders in the BCT. Take advantage of their experience and capabilities when you are training your team. While looking ahead to modularity, I can’t help but agree with Napoleon’s Maxim of War #47. It is clear that the former artillery corporal had it right — infantry, armor, and artillery are a team. Major General David P. Valcourt is currently the chief of Field Artillery, the Field Artillery School Commandant, and commanding general, Fort Sill, OK. He received two master’s degrees, including one from the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. He has held various command and staff positions, including director, Strategy, Plans, and Policy, Office of the G3, Pentagon; assistant division commander, 2d Infantry Division, Korea; commander, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) Artillery, Fort Hood, Texas; G3, III Corps Artillery and 212th Field Artillery Brigade, Fort Sill; and commander 2d Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, Fort Sill. “The fires brigade will come to the fight with a mix of both rocket/missile and can non battalions. As mentioned earlier, in most situations the cannon battalions are pushed down to thicken and reinforce the fight where the UEx commander has the most concern. The remaining rocket/missile battalions, which include the tracked multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) with two “six packs” of rockets and the wheeled high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) with one “six pack” of rockets, are positioned to shape the UEx fight to set successful conditions for the BCTs.” — 17