Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

mOdernizaTiOn effOrTs
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include a headquarters and headquarters battery and two composite battalions (one
a self-propelled 155-mm./8-inch howitzer unit and the other a towed 105/155-mm.
howitzer unit). 22
The original plans, as outlined in the Howze board, had envi sioned the air cavalry
combat brigade as a corps-level organiza tion for the destruction, disruption,
or hindrance of enemy armored forces by aerial-mounted combat units operating
with other ground forces. Between 1973 and 1974, a 105-mm. howitzer battalion
had the mission of directly support ing the divi sional air cavalry combat brigade,
but its fire support proved inadequate. The batteries of the light battalion could not
cover the large area assigned to the brigade effec tively, and the limited airmobile
capability of the batteries for frequent, and often short, moves hindered the flexi bility
and responsiveness of fire support. Before the Army reorganized the brigade as a
separate corps unit in 1974, consideration was given to provid ing it with organic
artil lery support. Representa tives from the Field Artillery School argued that if the
brigade were going to operate as a maneuver force, then the traditional principles
for close, con tinuous, all-weather fire support applied. Sugges tions included a
105-mm. howitzer battalion or an aerial field artil lery bat tery.
Al though the decision was made not to include any organic field artillery, the
approved TOE for the 6th Cavalry Brigade, which was activated on 21 February
1975, included a fire-support offi cer and a fire-support section at the brigade and
squadron levels. These positions were deemed neces sary for the effective planning
and coordination of fire support that divisional and corps artillery units would provide
in com bat. In the meantime, while continuing to test new organizational concepts,
the 1st Cavalry Division was reor ganized from TRICAP to armored in the summer
of 1975. 23
Aerial rocket artillery, which had provided noteworthy support to the airmobile
divisions in Vietnam, transferred its assets to aviation and armor-cavalry units in the
mid-1970s. The attack helicopter units in the new air cavalry combat brigade became
cavalry rather than artillery organizations. In 1976, the TOE for the air mobile division
artillery deleted the aerial rocket field artillery battalion, while retaining the 155-mm.
howitzer battalion that had been added in 1971 because of combat experien ces in
Vietnam. The resources of the last aerial rocket field artil lery unit remaining in the
22 TOE 6–800T, TOE 6–825T, and TOE 6–815T, all n.d., copies in fldr 1st Cav Div, CMH files.
23 TOE 6–700T, 22 Jun 1965, and TOE 6–700H, 31 Dec 1971, copies in CMH files; William H.
Schneider, “Fire Support for the Air Cavalry Combat Brigade,” Field Artillery Journal, September-
October 1974, pp. 18–24. When the 1st Cavalry Division (TRICAP) was reorganized in 1971, two
field artillery battalions were organized with self-propelled 155-mm. howitzers, and one of these later
became a 105-mm. howitzer battalion to support the airmobile brigade. No artillery was provided for
the air cavalry combat brigade except briefly in 1974. More artillery was added when the division
was reorganized as an armored division, although one of its three 155-mm. howitzer battalions was
inactivated in March 1979 to build up artillery strength in Europe. See Chapter 10 for information on
the development of airmobility. See Wilson, Maneuver and Firepower, pp. 357–59, for information
on the 1st Cavalry Division (TRICAP).