Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

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274 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of field arTillery 175-mm. gun from the 23d Artillery Group firing near Tay Ninh and positions, answered requests for observed fire, fired illumination rounds, and provided direct support against attacks. 15 Warfare in Vietnam changed the role of the division artillery commander. Because the three light artillery battalions in the infantry division were almost continuously employed in direct support of their respective brigades, he had little flexibility in varying their missions. To provide additional firepower, he could use the general-support battalion with three 155-mm. howitzer batteries and one 8-inch howit zer battery; however, the common practice of attaching one of the 155-mm. howitzer batteries to the division’s reconnaissance squadron mitigated this option. Distances and the prevailing situation also hindered the division artillery commander from using the remain der of his artillery as responsively as he might have in more conventional warfare, because the heavier artillery was usually positioned before an operation and displaced only rarely during the fighting. And with elements so widely dispersed, he saw his supply and maintenance responsibilities increase and his tactical ones decrease. In any event, the division artillery commander remained the division commander’s adviser on all fire-support matters. 16 15 Ott, Field Artillery, pp. 73–74. 16 Ibid., pp. 43–45.
vieTnam 275 At each maneuver command level above the company, an artillery fire-support coordinator was responsible for coordinating all available firepower: field artillery, armed helicopters, tactical air power, air defense weapons in a ground-support role, and naval gunfire. At the company level, the company commander was the fire-support coordinator, although the field artillery forward observer was available for advice and assistance. The liaison officer from the direct-support field artillery battalion was the fire-support coordinator at the maneuver battalion level, while at higher levels the fire-support coordinator was the com mander of the artillery supporting the force. Fire-support coor dination centers were established at division and higher levels. The decentralized nature of the counterguerrilla tactical operations and the need to avoid civilian casualties increased the necessity for extensive firesupport coordina tion. 17 In addition to coordinating all available firepower, the fire-support coordinator also had to control the airspace in his area of operations—a task made increasingly difficult with the extensive use of helicopters. Artillery-warning control centers were established, normally at the maneuver battalion and brigade levels, to advise the numerous aircraft over the area of existing fires. All support means were required to notify the warning centers before firing, and all aircraft entering the area were to radio the center to receive the necessary firing information as well as a safe route to travel. The air advisory agencies passed responsibility for all airspace above 5,000 feet to the Air Force. In such areas as Da Nang, Ton Son Nhut, and Bien Hoa, where Air Force traffic was heavy, the Air Force controlled the space. 18 Because of the nature of the fighting, about half of all artillery missions were fired very close to friendly positions or into areas surrounded by converging friendly forces. Extreme care had to be exercised to avoid firing on those forces and to ensure that civilians in the area would not be harmed. The fire-support coordinator normally obtained clearance from the government dis trict in which the supported force was operating, making arrange ments to open and maintain the necessary radio nets in advance of the operation. He also maintained maps marked to show the specified strike (or free-fire) zones, as well as no-fire zones, based upon rules jointly agreed upon by the U.S. and South Viet namese high commands. No-fire zones were usually those in the more heavily populated areas, although exceptions were made if a unit had to defend itself from attack or if an enemy force was positively identified with the area. Clearance requirements and multiple agency coordinations created serious problems, chiefly the loss of surprise and responsiveness. To reduce the time lost, area operations involving night firing on targets of opportunity and harassing and interdiction missions in less populated areas were often cleared in advance. 19 17 Ibid., pp. 47–48; Frank D. Grossman, “Artillery in Vietnam,” Ordnance, November-December 1967, p. 270; ACTIV Final Rpt, October 1969, pp. 4-2 to 4-9, copy in MHI files. 18 ACTIV Final Rpt, October 1969, pp. 4-9 to 4-10, copy in MHI files; John H. Hay, Jr., Tactical and Materiel Innovations (Washing ton, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1974), p. 32; Ott, Field Artillery, pp. 48–49, 179. 19 Ott, Field Artillery, p. 48; Hay, Tactical and Materiel Innovations, pp. 30–32; Grossman, “Artillery in Vietnam,” p. 270; ACTIV Final Rpt, October 1969, pp. 4-28 to 4-31 and ann. I, copy in MHI files.
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The Organizational History of Field
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Civil War Flag (nonregulation), wit
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-P
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FOREWORD The Organizational History
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used to defend fixed positions. Thi
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CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. THE BEGINN
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Chapter xv Page ABBREVIATIONS AND A
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Chapter xvii Page Sound-ranging equ
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Field Artillery 1775-2003
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4 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of fie
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10 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of fi
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Regimental Staff Table 3—Artiller
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Battle of Palo Alto by Klauprecht &
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Table 6—Standard Field Pieces Use
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Table 8—Artillery Organization, A
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Table 9—Artillery Organization, A
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CHAPTER 4 Diverging Missions Betwee
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diverging missiOns tactics for infa
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diverging missiOns possibili ties o
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diverging missiOns The Gatling Guns
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diverging missiOns of War William C
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diverging missiOns high-angle fire
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Table 10—Artillery Organization,
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diverging missiOns Artillery in act
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diverging missiOns Artillery in act
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diverging missiOns Although neglect
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Direct Fire Gun A Aiming Point Diag
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100 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of f
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126 THE ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY OF F
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Table 11—Field Artillery Pieces R
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Table 12—Field Artillery Transpor
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CHAPTER 7 World War II Developments
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wOrld war ii 159 blow, and the thir
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wOrld war ii L-4 from the 29th Infa
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wOrld war ii 163 authorized six 105
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wOrld war ii Airborne troops loadin
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wOrld war ii 167 artillery battalio
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wOrld war ii Table 16—Principal A
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wOrld war ii Table 17—Nondivision
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wOrld war ii Destroyer Training Cen
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Firing 4.5-inch rockets in the Hür
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wOrld war ii 177 of division artil
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wOrld war ii 179 the for mer was pr
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wOrld war ii 15th Field Artillery O
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wOrld war ii as well, passed missio
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wOrld war ii 185 photographs), and
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wOrld war ii 187 After nearly six y
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CHAPTER 9 The Nuclear Arena The Kor
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The nUclear arena 211 time that rad
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The nUclear arena Honest John rocke
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The nUclear arena Corporal missile
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The nUclear arena 217 and firepower
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The nUclear arena 219 In light of n
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The nUclear arena 221 the missile c
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Appendix A—Chiefs of Field Artill
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aPPendiX Maj. Gen. John A. Dubia 15
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Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

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