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2006 State of the Field Artillery.

Article Excerpt
Recently, while trying to determine what I wanted to talk about in this year's State of the Field Artillery article, I thought about the events of the past and reviewed some of the articles written by my predecessors. Many things have changed in our branch over the past few years, but a lot has remained the same. We've transformed our branch, and we're still deeply committed to supporting the maneuver commander. That is evident in all our efforts in our units, our school and our futures development--especially precision-guided munitions (PGMs).

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Indeed, we remain on azimuth. We remain professional Field Artillery Soldiers and leaders instilled with the warrior ethos and optimally trained, organized and equipped to accomplish our mission. Although our mission statement has evolved somewhat over the years to incorporate joint and nonlethal assets, the fundamentals remain the same. Our mission is to support Army and joint commanders with cannon, rocket and missile fires and coordinate and integrate all their joint lethal and nonlethal fire support assets across the full range of military operations. Our great FA leaders and Soldiers are accomplishing this mission in Afghanistan and Iraq today.

FA Timeliness and Accuracy. In the lethal arena, we have performed superbly--making tremendous improvements in both our timeliness and accuracy. Or, perhaps, we just were given the opportunity to do what simulations at our combat training centers (CTCs) couldn't replicate properly.

We've demonstrated our ability to be accurate. With both the guided multiple-launch rocket system-unitary (GMLRS-U) and Army tactical missile system-unitary (ATACMS-U), we've demonstrated our superb accuracy time and time again. As you know, our Marine brethren have nicknamed GMLRS-U their "70-kilometer sniper rifle." I am impressed with our cannon accuracy as well, and Excalibur and the precision guidance kit (PGK) will give us even greater accuracy.

But I must stress that our accuracy with munitions is only as accurate as our total system of systems. We must have precision targeting enabled by technologies to use our PGMs effectively, technologies such as the precision strike suite-Special Operating Force (PSS-SOF) software. We must continue to push for precision in all the requirements for accurate predicted fire.

Our forward observer software (FOS) has incorporated PSS-SOF to provide the precision capability our observers need to engage targets with PGMs, such as GMLRS-U, Excalibur and the Air Force's joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs).

FOS also is expanding its capability so any laptop computer can run it. It will have the latest mapping engine and the ability to interface with force XXI battle command brigade and below (FBC[B.sup.2]) and (or) blue force tracker (BFT) to conduct a friendly unit check.

FA Nonlethal Assets. When faced with new situations in the nonlethal arena, Field Artillerymen have shown superb leadership. Just as we always have done, we have taken charge: coordinating and integrating nonlethal assets for the commander. Artillerymen never hesitate to coordinate all assets: electronic warfare (EW), information operations (IO), psychological operations (PSYOP) and civil-military operations (CMO).

I have been told on more than one occasion that Artillerymen make some of the best forward operating base (FOB) commanders. While our branch has the same quality officers that other branches have, we have an advantage. We spend our careers integrating everything available to the commander. As a group, we're good at it, and we easily can adapt our skills to any situation.

FA Organization. Of course, our units are organized differently today than they were...

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