Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

BETWEEN THE WARS
Training and Doctrine
149
Reductions in personnel and appropriations in the 1920s adversely affected
training as well as weapon development and effective organizations. Only three
field artillery schools survived World War I—those at Camp ZacharyTaylor, Camp
Bragg, and Fort Sill. In 1920, the School of Fire at Fort Sill was officially redesignated
as the Field Artillery School, although general usage of the term had begun in
the spring of 1919, and the school at Camp Zachary Taylor was transferred to Fort
Knox. In 1922, the three schools were consolidated at Fort Sill, and the number of
courses reduced to two. 53
Techniques developed at the Field Artillery School emphasized reconnaissance
and the selection and occupation of position in an attempt to retreat from the static
concepts of World War I, even though it was often difficult to assemble even a
battery together for maneuvers. In 1919, the school troops (1st, 9th, and 14th Field
Artillery) were far understrength. The 1st Field Artillery had only twenty-five officers
and three hundred ninety-seven enlisted men, and the 14th had twenty-two
officers and two hundred twenty-five enlisted men. In the winter of 1919–1920, the
1st Field Artillery was reorganized as a motorized regiment, armed with French and
American 75-mm. guns and the 4.7-inch gun. The 14th was organized with French
and American 75-mm. guns and the British 60-pounder, and the 9th Field Artillery
with 155-mm. and 9.2-inch howitzers. This arrangement lasted until August 1921;
the 9th and 14th Field Artillery were inactivated, leaving the 1st Field Artillery
as a horse-drawn regiment with one motorized battalion. The 1st Field Artil lery,
augmented with one battalion from the 18th Field Artillery after its activation in
December 1922, served as the only school troops until the 1930s. 54
The school policy was for all units at Fort Sill to be authorized at war strength
and to be kept as close to that goal as possible, because nowhere else in the continental
United States could an artillery officer learn to work with units manned and
equipped as would be available during war. But, in reality, the school troops were
usually well below war strength. For example, in October 1923, the units were
four hundred men understrength, and the batteries had to use cooks and drivers as
cannoneers. As reported in 1926, more emphasis was needed in the areas of fire
adjustment, communications, horsemanship, marching, and liaison with aircraft;
however, the following year Chief of Field Artillery Snow, in addition to commenting
on the tremendous short age of horses, related that it was impossible to carry out
the War Department’s instructions for practical testing in aerial observa tion because
of the lack of gasoline. 55
Locating enemy targets and massing fires quickly and accurately were key
to the success of artillery. However, prior to World War I specialized methods
53 WD GO 7, 30 Jan 1920; WD GO 42, 14 Jul 1920; Sunderland, Field Artillery School, pp. 73,
76–78, 85–87.
54 Sunderland, Field Artillery School, pp. 76–78.
55 Ibid., p. 91; Annual Rpts, CofFA, FY1926, p. 20, and FY1927, p. 26, file 319.12, boxes 1342 and
370, Entries 37g and 37i, RG 407, NARA. See also Harry G. Bishop, Field Artillery (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1935), ch. 9.