Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

FOREWORD
The Organizational History of Field Artillery, 1775–2003, traces the evolution
of one of the U.S. Army’s premier combat arms—field artillery, the King of Battle.
For over 230 years, the artillery force has supported Army ground troops during the
struggles to preserve and expand the fledgling nation and then during the wars abroad
to provide lasting security for both the country and the larger international community.
Organized initially into companies supporting infantry battalions and brigades, artillerymen—the
Army’s Redlegs—eventually manned battalions, regiments, groups, and
brigades to support the growing number of combat divisions, corps, and armies with
the battlefield fires necessary to ensure tactical victory.
Janice E. McKenney’s study is a systematic account of the organization of artillery
units, both field and coast (until their separation in the early twentieth century) and
then field artillery alone until 2003. Tracing the development of one of the Army’s
most complex arms, the author highlights the rationale behind each major change
in the branch’s organization, weapons, and associated equipment, and lays out for
all field artillery soldiers the rich heritage and history of their chosen branch. The
work also complements the forthcoming revised edition of the lineage volume Field
Artillery. In sum, today’s decision-makers and force planners may find the challenges
of providing a seemingly narrowly constrained military institution with the flexibility
and responsiveness needed to adapt to an ever-changing and uncertain global environment
both inspiring and instructive.
Washington, D.C. JEFFREY J. CLARKE
9 May 2006 Chief of Military History
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