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Description
Field Manual 6-40 Field Artillery Manual Cannon Gunnery has been recognized widely by the Army and Marine Corps as the training publication with clear and uncontested truth about meeting the requirements for accurate predicted fires. Surprisingly though, this manual (last updated as a multi-service manual in October 1999) tells Field Artillery leaders nothing about how to troubleshoot problems in firing accuracy.
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As the adage that "no plan survives first contact with the enemy" is true, so also is that "no firing battery always hits the target." The need to isolate, detect and solve firing inaccuracies by practicing a gunnery troubleshooting discipline is an absolute imperative for FA and fire support professionals.
For several years now, the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, has been teaching troubleshooting methods in the classroom. These methods are "math drills" to capture database errors or correctly compute an answer, given some formulas on a dry-erase board. It has proven useful for students who are keenly attuned to manual gunnery procedures from recent experience but not for those out of practice.
However, Field Artillerymen have been returning to the FA Captain's Career Course (FACCC) and other professional military education (PME) courses, such as the FA Pre-Command Course (PCC), in large numbers with little or no recent live-firing experience. The need to "refresh" through practical exercise and live fire is paramount.
"Reset" of Field Artillerymen. Recognizing this atrophy in core FA competencies, such as gunnery, the Commandant of the Field Artillery School identified Reset ("Re-Red" Artillerymen) as his highest priority. The FA School now is implementing initiatives to help Reset basic leader FA skills in officer and NCO career courses.
Correcting this "skill-atrophy" trend only may require minor alteration of the methods and types of instruction at Fort Sill. Considerable thought also has been given to adding live fire and more field training back into selected sections of these courses to address the degradation in supervisory gunnery skills. Hence, the 428th... |
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