Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

The nUclear arena
Corporal missile
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to battalions; however, to achieve the same volume of fire with the nuclear-capable
Corporal and Honest John, only one missile was needed. There fore, to exploit the
potential of three missile-firing batteries in a battalion, the bat teries and missiles
would have to be dispersed over a very large area, thus counter acting the operational
and logistical advantages of centralized battalion control. These considerations resulted
in a single-fire unit organized with a headquarters, headquarters and service
bat tery, and one missile battery with two missile-launching sec tions. 15 All support
functions, including ammunition supply, motor maintenance, and personnel administration,
were consolidated at battalion level. The units had limited capability for
simultaneous defense against ground attack and no capability against an air attack,
thereby requiring that other units provide local security support. The missiles were
employed in pairs to ensure timely atomic artillery fire support. 16
The batteries of the Corporal and Honest John battalions were similar except that
the Corporal’s firing battery included a guidance pla toon since the mis sile received
commands from the ground during flight. The principal difference in employment
15 DeShazo, “Field Artillery Missiles,” pp. 103–04; TOE 6–545P (Proposed), 10 Aug 1955; TOE
6–545C, 17 Nov 1955; TOE 6–545D, 20 Feb 1957; TOE 6–545E, 1 Mar 1960.
16 DeShazo, “Field Artillery Missiles,” p. 105.