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GMLRS Unitary Battle Drill and the Ready First Combat Team.

Article Excerpt
1st Brigade Combat Team (1st BCT), 1st Armored Division, or the Ready First Combat Team, with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery (2-3 FA) in direct support (DS), deployed to Tal Afar in Western Ninewa Province in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) V The BCT then moved south to Ar Ramadi to relieve the 2nd Brigade, 28th Infantry Division (2-28 ID), Pennsylvania Army National Guard (PAARNG).

Because of the brigade's experience in Tal Afar, we were able to contrast the stark differences in the threat that can exist throughout the Iraqi theater of operations. These differences required us to employ new tactics and use new weapons, such as the M31 guided multiple-launch rocket system (GMLRS) unitary--a highly effective munition in the urban terrain of Ramadi.

The Threat and Terrain. While the brigade's area of operations (AO) spanned 180 kilometers north to south, the focus for fires was the provincial capital city of Ramadi. The daily threat to Coalition Forces included small arms fire, improvised rocket launchers and, of course, improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The 40-square-kilometer city is made up of compact neighborhoods with winding streets and countless multistory buildings that provide the anti-Iraqi forces (AIF) cover and concealment. The area surrounding the city is significantly less populated but still has many homes among the farm land and palm tree groves. The Euphrates River and man-made Nassar canal compartmentalize the city but are not wide enough to seriously limit crossing.

Within the city, the enemy often synchronized attacks from multiple locations on Coalition Forces' patrols and fixed positions. AIF mortar and rocket teams fired from a variety of locations, both inside and outside urban areas.

Ramadi presented a significant increase in AIF activity and required the 1st BCT to employ more ground-fire support systems in addition to its DS battery. Such systems included 120-mm mortars, five lightweight countermortar radars (LCMRs), Firefinder radars and the hostile artillery locator.

Integrated with fixed-wing air support from the MultiNational Force-West (MNF-W), air-delivered munitions were employed on a regular basis to varying degrees of effects. Army aviation eventually was incorporated into the fire support and maneuver plans and provided mobile direct fires and a much-needed...

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