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Field artillery branch of the U.S. Army From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Field Artillery Branch is the field artillery branch of the United States Army. This branch, alongside the Infantry and Cavalry branches, was formerly considered to be one of the "classic" combat arms branches (defined as those branches of the army with the primary mission of engaging in armed combat with an enemy force), but is today included within the "Maneuver, Fires and Effects" (MFE) classification, in accordance with current U.S. Army organizational doctrine.
| Field Artillery | |
|---|---|
Field Artillery branch insignia, featuring two crossed field guns | |
| Active | November 17, 1775 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Combat arms |
| Home station | Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States |
| Nickname(s) | King of Battle God of War Red Leg |
| Patron | Saint Barbara |
| Color | Scarlet[1] |
The U.S. Army Field Artillery branch traces its origins to 17 November 1775 when the Continental Congress, unanimously elected Henry Knox "Colonel of the Regiment of Artillery". The regiment formally entered service on 1 January 1776. During the 19th century a total of seven Artillery regiments were formed which contained a mixture of "heavy" artillery companies and "light" artillery batteries. The light artillery batteries took the role of field artillery although they did not use that designation. The seven artillery regiments were designated as regiments of artillery and were not distinguished as being either "coast" or "field" artillery as was the practice in the 20th century.
In the reorganization of the Army by the Act of 2 February 1901, the seven Artillery regiments were reorganized as the Artillery Corps. The Corps was split into 195 battery-sized units, called companies at the time, of Field Artillery and Coast Artillery. In 1907 the Artillery Corps was reorganized into the Field Artillery and the Coast Artillery Corps.[2] Although presently Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery are separate branches, both inherit the traditions of the Artillery branch.
In 1907, the Field Artillery companies of the Artillery Corps were organized into six Field Artillery regiments. In 1916, as the United States was preparing for its eventual entry into World War I, these six regiments were supplemented by 15 more Field Artillery regiments. During World War I numerous other Field Artillery Regiments were organized in the National Guard and National Army, which were mobilized to supplement the Regular Army.
In 1924 the Army organized the Coast Artillery Corps into regiments. The first seven regiments retained the lineage of the seven Artillery regiments which existed in the 19th century. The Coast Artillery Corps was disbanded in 1950 and its units were consolidated with the Field Artillery in the Artillery branch. In 1968 the Artillery branch divided into Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery branches with the newly formed 1st through 7th Air Defense Artillery regiments retaining the lineage of the seven 19th century artillery regiments.
Although the oldest Artillery regiments in the Army are in the Air Defense Artillery branch, this is not necessarily the case for individual units below the regimental level. For example, the 1st Battalion of the 5th Field Artillery traces its lineage to the Alexander Hamilton Battery, formed in 1776, which is the oldest Artillery unit in the active United States Army and is the only Regular Army unit which can trace its lineage to the American Revolution.[3]
The oldest Field Artillery unit in the U.S. Army is the 1st Battalion, 101st Field Artillery, Massachusetts Army National Guard, which traces its origins to December 1636. Originally an Infantry unit, it was reorganized as an Artillery unit in 1916.[4][5]
The mission of the Field Artillery is to destroy, defeat, or disrupt the enemy with integrated fires to enable maneuver commanders to dominate in unified land operations.[6]
The Field Artillery is one of the Army's combat arms, traditionally one of the three major branches (with Infantry and Armor). It refers to those units that use artillery weapons systems to deliver surface-to-surface long range indirect fire. Indirect fire means that the projectile does not follow the line of sight to the target. Mortars are not field artillery weapons; they are organic to infantry units and are manned by infantry personnel (US Army MOS 11C or USMC 0341).
The term field artillery is distinguished from the Air Defense Artillery, and historically, from the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (with the function of coastal defense artillery), a branch which existed from 1901 to 1950. In 1950, the two branches were unified and called simply Artillery, until Air Defense Artillery was made into a separate branch in 1968. The insignia of the Field Artillery branch is a pair of crossed field guns (19th-century-style cannon) in gold, and dates back to 1834.
The home of the Field Artillery and the Field Artillery School are at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Field artillery is called the "King of Battle". Conflicts in the 20th century saw artillery become exponentially more effective as indirect fire methods were introduced immediately prior to World War I. During World War I and World War II, field artillery was the single highest casualty-producing weapons system on any battlefield.
Soldiers from artillery units have often been used as infantry during both the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. While field artillery units have often performed admirably as infantry and accomplished infantry missions, such use has led to the atrophy of essential field artillery specific skills and tasks.[7]
Members of the Field Artillery are referred to as "redlegs" because during the Mexican–American War, both Ringgold's Battery and Duncan's Battery were issued uniforms distinguished by scarlet stripes down the legs of their uniform pants, a practice continued through the Civil War and on dress uniforms even after WWI.
Scarlet was established as the Artillery Branch color along with crossed cannon branch insignia in the Regulations of 1833. Branch colors are found on the shoulder straps of officers wearing the blue dress uniform and on the branch of service scarves authorized for wear with a variety of uniforms.[8][9]
From 1903 to 1908, one Chief of Artillery oversaw both field artillery and coast artillery.[10] The Chiefs of Artillery from this time were:
After 1908, one general served as Chief of Coast Artillery which had a corps structure, while the Field Artillery had a regimental structure and had no chief or corps designation.[11]
This disorganized Field Artillery occasioned a boardroom bloodletting in December 1917 after the entry of the US into the First World War in April 1917 proved that the Quartermaster General of the United States Army Henry Granville Sharpe was unfit for this purpose. In the aftermath of bloody Tuesday Brigadier general William J. Snow was appointed to the unofficial post of Chief of Field Artillery in February 1918. He continued in that post after it was codified into law in 1920. He served until retiring in 1927, and oversaw the artillery branch's postwar reorganization, including the beginning of testing and experimentation to determine how to transition from horse drawn equipment to mechanized, and modernize processes for directing and controlling indirect fire to improve speed and accuracy.[12]
After 1920, the Chief of Coast Artillery was joined by the Chief of Field Artillery.[10] From 1920 to 1942, the Field Artillery corps was led by a branch chief who held the rank of major general.[13] This was in keeping with the Army's other major branches, including infantry, cavalry, and coast artillery.[10] Each chief was responsible for planning and overseeing execution of training, equipping, and manning within his branch.[10]
The branch chief positions were eliminated in 1942, and their functions consolidated under the commander of the Army Ground Forces as a way to end inter-branch rivalries and enable synchronized and coordinated activities as part of World War II's combined arms doctrine.[14] The Chiefs of Field Artillery from this time were:
The professional journal of the Field Artillery is published at Fort Sill. Known as the Field Artillery Journal in 1911, it went through many name changes through Field Artillery in 1987. The journal merged with Air Defense Artillery in 2007 to become Fires.[15]
The U.S. Army employs five types of field artillery weapon systems:
Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) is a priority of the U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC). The aim is to modernize a suite of capabilities of the artillery.[a] LRPF appears to be a
According to AFC, the mission of the Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) CFT is to "deliver cutting-edge surface-to-surface (SSM) fires systems that will significantly increase range and effects over currently fielded US and adversary systems."[30]
AFC's five major programs for LRPF are:
Based on Futures Command's development between July 2018 and December 2020, by 2023 the earliest versions of these weapons will be fielded:[36]
The kill chains will take less than 1 minute, from detection of the target, to execution of the fires command;[37] these operations will have the capability to precisely strike "command centers, air defenses, missile batteries, and logistics centers" nearly simultaneously.[36][d][39][40]
The current M109A6 "Paladin" howitzer range is doubled in the M109A7 variant.[53]: minute 3:07 [54] An operational test of components of the Long range cannon was scheduled for 2020.[55] The LRC is complementary to Extended range cannon artillery (ERCA),[55][56] the M1299 Extended Range Cannon Artillery howitzer.[57] Baseline ERCA is to enter service in 2023.[58][45][59] Investigations for ERCA in 2025: rocket-boosted artillery shells:[60] Tests of the Multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) XM30 rocket shell have demonstrated a near-doubling of the range of the munition, using the Tail controlled guided multiple launch rocket system, or TC-G.[61] The TRADOC capability manager (TCM) Field Artillery Brigade - DIVARTY has been named a command position.[f]
The LRHW has been named 'Dark Eagle'[94] The first LRHW battery will start to receive its first operational rounds in early FY2023; all eight rounds for this battery will have been delivered by FY2023.[95] By then, the PEO Missiles and Space will have picked up the LRHW program, for batteries two and three in FY'25 and FY'27, respectively.[95] Battery one will first train, and then participate in the LRHW flight test launches in FY'22 and FY'23.[95][96][97]
In 1789 after the Revolution there was only one battalion of four companies of artillery. In 1794 a "Corps of Artillerists and Engineers" was organized, which included the four companies of artillery then in service and had sixteen companies in four battalions. In 1802 there was a reduction of the army. The Artillery were separated from the Engineers and the former formed into one regiment of 20 companies. In 1808 a regiment of ten companies called the "Regiment of Light Artillery" was formed. In 1812 two more regiments were added.
In 1821 four regiments were created from existing units on the following lines.
In 1901 the regimental organization of the US Army artillery was abolished, more companies were added, and given numerical designations.
In 1907 the Coast Artillery Corps was established as a separate branch, and the Field Artillery re-established regiments officially, although provisional regiments had existed since 1905.[98]
In 1916 Congress enacted the National Defense Act and 15 more regiments were authorized.
In 1917, following the American entry into World War I, the numbers from 1 through 100 were reserved for the Regular Army, from 101 through 300 for the National Guard, and 301 and above for the National Army. Under this system the 1st through 21st and 76th through 83d were organized in the Regular Army; the 101st through 151st, in the National Guard; and, the 25th through 75th, 84th and 85th, and the 301st through 351st in the National Army. Field Artillery Brigades, numbered 1st through 24th, 51st through 67th, and 151st through 172d, were also organized, with each brigade typically commanding three regiments; each division had one of these artillery brigades.[99]
A 1918 expansion added the 22d Field Artillery Regiment through the 39th Field Artillery Regiment with some exceptions, notably Philippine Scouts units.
The Coast Artillery Corps constantly reorganized the numbered companies until 1924, but during World War I created 61 artillery regiments from the numbered companies, for service (or potential service) with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF); the 30th through 45th Artillery Brigades were also created to command groups of these regiments.[100] These regiments operated almost all US-manned heavy and railway artillery on the Western Front, and were designated, for example, 51st Artillery (Coast Artillery Corps (CAC)). Most of these were disbanded immediately after the war. The Coast Artillery also acquired the antiaircraft mission during the war, which was formalized a few years later. In 1924 the Coast Artillery Corps adopted a regimental system, and numbered companies were returned to letter designations. (In order to promote esprit-de-corps, the first 7 regiments were linked to the original 7 regiments of artillery). During 1943 most antiaircraft units lost their Coast Artillery designations, and the regiments were broken up into battalions. However, the antiaircraft branch remained nominally part of the Coast Artillery Corps. In late 1944 the Coast Artillery harbor defense regiments were inactivated or reorganized as battalions, which themselves were mostly disbanded in April 1945, with personnel transferred to the local Harbor Defense Commands. 977 Coast Artillery and antiaircraft battalions were created before the branch's demise in 1950.[101][102]
In 1943 an Army-wide (except infantry) reorganization created numerous serially numbered battalions, and most regiments were broken up into battalions. Also during World War II new designations were applied to some units, the "Armored Field Artillery Battalion" for self-propelled units and the "Parachute (or Glider) Field Artillery Battalion" for airborne units. A number of "Field Artillery Groups" were also created during the war.[103]
The Army Anti-Aircraft Command (ARAACOM) was created in July 1950, and renamed to become US Army Air Defense Command (USARADCOM) in 1957. A new system, the U.S. Army Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), was adopted in 1957 to replace the old regimental system. CARS used the Army's traditional regiments as parent organizations for historical purposes, but the primary building blocks are divisions, and brigades became battalions. Each battalion carries an association with a parent regiment, even though the regimental organization no longer exists. In some brigades several numbered battalions carrying the same regimental association may still serve together, and tend to consider themselves part of the traditional regiment when in fact they are independent battalions serving a brigade, rather than a regimental, headquarters. From c. 1959 through 1971 antiaircraft units and field artillery units were combined with common parent regiments for lineage purposes, for example the "1st Artillery".
In 1968 the Air Defense Artillery Branch (United States Army) was split from the artillery, with the Regular Army air defense and field artillery regiments separating on 1 September 1971.
The CARS was replaced by the U.S. Army Regimental System (USARS) in 1981. US Artillery Structure 1989. On 1 October 2005, the word "regiment" was formally appended to the name of all active and inactive CARS and USARS regiments. So, for example, the 1st Cavalry officially became titled the 1st Cavalry Regiment.
During the Cold War the Field Artillery was responsible for all mobile ballistic missile weapons systems, including the Lance and Pershing II ballistic missiles.
The nickname Redlegs refers to soldiers and former soldiers in the US Army Artillery. The nickname hearkens back to when artillerymen wore distinctive red stripes on their uniform trousers.
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