Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

More documents

Recommendations

Info

154 THE ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY OF FIELD ARTILLERY direction team to prepare tech niques that could be used throughout the entire Army. Using five personnel (vertical control operator, horizontal control operator, 67 and three computers to calculate data for laying and firing pieces), he tried to find a way to apply graphically the adjusted elevation to the measured range in order to reduce the amount of time required to perform computation. After several demonstra tions in late November 1940, one of the com puters, Capt. Abbot Burns, suggested the loga rithmic plotting of scales, thereby inventing the graphical firing table. At this point, the basic concept of the battalion fire direction center, which would handle both observed and unobserved fires, was established. 68 The development of a division artillery fire direction technique closely followed that of the battalion. In April 1941, Gen eral Marshall visited Fort Sill and was given a four-battalion “shoot” demon stration, fired from map data but not including the massing of fires based on observ er adjustment. Marshall doubted the ability of the school to mass divisional artillery fires without a map, and the school devised a system to meet the challenge. The vertical con trol operator of the experimental fire direction team, Maj. Einar Gjel steen, developed a method of concentrating battalion observed fire charts by having one gun in each battalion register on a division artillery check point. This permitted the massing of division artillery fire by any observer, regardless of the chart’s being based on survey adjustment. 69 General Danford approved the new concept in 1941 after witnessing a demonstration in October of that year, and the new field artillery manuals describing the technique appeared the following year. The 1942 manuals showed the fire direction center comprising gunnery and communications personnel, along with their equipment, located at the battalion command post. Five soldiers served under the battalion S–3, with telephone and radio as the primary means of communication among the officer adjusting the fire, the battalion fire direction center, and the firing batteries. Visual signs, voice, or voice relay were alternate communication means. 70 The main principles of the fire direction center had been established, although improvements and refinements were made later. In time, this new technique gave a superiority to American artillery by enabling commanders to con trol the fires of many battalions accurately and rapidly. Assisted by efficient networks of field telephones and radios, both of which were essential to the center’s opera tions, field artillery had the “capabil ity of applying overwhelming masses of firepower on targets, either instantaneously or in accordance with split-second time sched ules. . . .” 71 Having the officers in the fire direction center control artillery fire rather than forward observ ers, 69 1st End, Gjelsteen to Comdt, FA School, 15 Mar 44, FA School files; E. B. Gjelsteen, “Fire Direction Technique for Groupment and Division Artillery,” Field Artillery Journal, March 1942, pp. 184–94; Ratliff, “Field Artillery Battalion Fire Direction Center,” p. 119; Sunderland, “Massed Fire and the FDC,” p. 59; Thomas H. Miles, “Notes on the Development of the Fire Direction Center,” Fort Sill, 6 Nov 1972, copy in CMH files; 70 1st End, Gjelsteen to Comdt, FA School, 15 Mar 44, FA School files; FM 6–40, 1942, pp. 68–69, 288–91; “Fire Direction,” Field Artillery Journal, May-June 1941, pp. 278–87. 71 R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy, Military Heritage of America (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1956), p. 642.
BETWEEN THE WARS 155 as in the British army, resulted in a slower response but in decisions based on wider intelligence. 72 Field artillery, despite problems in resources, had undergone dramatic changes during the interwar years—changes in armament, methods of transportation, employment, organization, and fire direction techniques—changes that became decisive factors in winning the next war. 72 J[onathan] B. A. Bailey, Field Artillery and Firepower (Oxford, England: Military Press, 1989), p. 186n46.
Page 1:
The Organizational History of Field
Page 4 and 5:
Civil War Flag (nonregulation), wit
Page 6 and 7:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-P
Page 9:
FOREWORD The Organizational History
Page 12 and 13:
used to defend fixed positions. Thi
Page 15 and 16:
CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. THE BEGINN
Page 17 and 18:
Chapter xv Page ABBREVIATIONS AND A
Page 19 and 20:
Chapter xvii Page Sound-ranging equ
Page 21:
Field Artillery 1775-2003
Page 24 and 25:
4 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of fie
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
10 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of fi
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Regimental Staff Table 3—Artiller
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61:
Page 62 and 63:
Battle of Palo Alto by Klauprecht &
Page 64 and 65:
Page 66 and 67:
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 72 and 73:
Table 6—Standard Field Pieces Use
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Table 8—Artillery Organization, A
Page 90 and 91:
Table 9—Artillery Organization, A
Page 92 and 93:
Page 95 and 96:
CHAPTER 4 Diverging Missions Betwee
Page 97 and 98:
diverging missiOns tactics for infa
Page 99 and 100:
diverging missiOns possibili ties o
Page 101 and 102:
diverging missiOns The Gatling Guns
Page 103 and 104:
diverging missiOns of War William C
Page 105 and 106:
diverging missiOns high-angle fire
Page 107 and 108:
Table 10—Artillery Organization,
Page 109 and 110:
diverging missiOns Artillery in act
Page 111 and 112:
diverging missiOns Artillery in act
Page 113:
diverging missiOns Although neglect
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Direct Fire Gun A Aiming Point Diag
Page 120 and 121:
100 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of f
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125: 104 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of f
Page 146 and 147: 126 THE ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY OF F
Page 150 and 151: Table 11—Field Artillery Pieces R
Page 152 and 153: Table 12—Field Artillery Transpor
Page 177 and 178: CHAPTER 7 World War II Developments
Page 179 and 180: wOrld war ii 159 blow, and the thir
Page 181 and 182: wOrld war ii L-4 from the 29th Infa
Page 183 and 184: wOrld war ii 163 authorized six 105
Page 185 and 186: wOrld war ii Airborne troops loadin
Page 187 and 188: wOrld war ii 167 artillery battalio
Page 189 and 190: wOrld war ii Table 16—Principal A
Page 191 and 192: wOrld war ii Table 17—Nondivision
Page 193 and 194: wOrld war ii Destroyer Training Cen
Page 195 and 196: Firing 4.5-inch rockets in the Hür
Page 197 and 198: wOrld war ii 177 of division artil
Page 199 and 200: wOrld war ii 179 the for mer was pr
Page 201 and 202: wOrld war ii 15th Field Artillery O
Page 203 and 204: wOrld war ii as well, passed missio
Page 205 and 206: wOrld war ii 185 photographs), and
Page 207: wOrld war ii 187 After nearly six y
Page 224 and 225:
Page 226 and 227:
Page 229 and 230:
CHAPTER 9 The Nuclear Arena The Kor
Page 231 and 232:
The nUclear arena 211 time that rad
Page 233 and 234:
The nUclear arena Honest John rocke
Page 235 and 236:
The nUclear arena Corporal missile
Page 237 and 238:
The nUclear arena 217 and firepower
Page 239 and 240:
The nUclear arena 219 In light of n
Page 241 and 242:
The nUclear arena 221 the missile c
Page 243 and 244:
The nUclear arena Lacrosse missile
Page 245 and 246:
The nUclear arena 225 cost over $10
Page 247 and 248:
The nUclear arena his proposal the
Page 249 and 250:
The nUclear arena Little John rocke
Page 251 and 252:
The nUclear arena 231 fire it withi
Page 253 and 254:
The nUclear arena 233 for rapid che
Page 255 and 256:
The nUclear arena Lance missile 235
Page 257 and 258:
The nUclear arena 237 By the end of
Page 259 and 260:
The nUclear arena 239 In the late 1
Page 261 and 262:
Table 23—Field Artillery Rockets
Page 263 and 264:
CHAPTER 10 The Road to Flexible Res
Page 265 and 266:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse 245 a
Page 267 and 268:
Table 24—Comparison of Divisional
Page 269 and 270:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse 249 p
Page 271 and 272:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse Chart
Page 273 and 274:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse Chart
Page 275 and 276:
Chart 4—Reorganization of Regimen
Page 277 and 278:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse 257 d
Page 279 and 280:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse HHB C
Page 281 and 282:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse reorg
Page 283 and 284:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse M18 f
Page 285 and 286:
The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse UH-1D
Page 287 and 288:
CHAPTER 11 Vietnam During the 1950s
Page 289 and 290:
vieTnam Table 25—Field Artillery
Page 291 and 292:
vieTnam CH-54 Tarhe lifting a 155-m
Page 293 and 294:
vieTnam 8-inch howitzer from Batter
Page 295 and 296:
vieTnam 275 At each maneuver comman
Page 297 and 298:
CH-47 Chinook transporting the M102
Page 299 and 300:
vieTnam 279 ployed to Vietnam in la
Page 301 and 302:
vieTnam 281 arose. A field artiller
Page 303:
vieTnam ments were authorized, usin
Page 306 and 307:
Page 308 and 309:
Page 310 and 311:
Page 312 and 313:
Page 314 and 315:
Page 316 and 317:
Page 318 and 319:
Page 320 and 321:
Page 322 and 323:
Page 324 and 325:
Page 326 and 327:
Page 328 and 329:
Page 330 and 331:
Page 332 and 333:
Page 334 and 335:
Page 336 and 337:
Page 338 and 339:
Table 26—Field Artillery Reductio
Page 340 and 341:
Page 342 and 343:
Page 345 and 346:
Appendix A—Chiefs of Field Artill
Page 347:
aPPendiX Maj. Gen. John A. Dubia 15
Page 350 and 351:
Page 352 and 353:
Page 354 and 355:
Page 356 and 357:
Page 358 and 359:
Page 360 and 361:
Page 362 and 363:
Page 364 and 365:
Page 366 and 367:
Page 368 and 369:
Page 370 and 371:
Page 372 and 373:
Page 374 and 375:
Page 376 and 377:
Page 378 and 379:
Page 380 and 381:
Page 382 and 383:
Page 384 and 385:
Page 386 and 387:
Page 388 and 389:
Page 390 and 391:
Page 392 and 393:
Page 394 and 395:
Page 396 and 397:
Page 398 and 399:
Page 400 and 401:
Page 402 and 403:
Page 404 and 405:
Page 406 and 407:
Page 408 and 409:
Page 410 and 411:
Page 412 and 413:
Page 414 and 415:
show all

Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?