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Joint fires and effects is what we do - your Field Artillery is the Army's integrators of joint fires and effects. As we transition to the Modular Force on to the Future Force, we have three priorities to best support the Army's ability to integrate joint fires and effects.
Our top priority is to enable the Army to grow the Fires Battalions organic to the fourth brigade combat teams (BCTs), in most cases, in the units of employment (UExs). We are capitalizing on the energy and resources of the Global War on Terrorism to grow these battalions from 33 to 43 in the BCTs - potentially to 48 BCTs. Growing Fires Battalions, which are more capable versions of today's direct support (DS) FA battalions, will help relieve the pressure on the Army due to our GWOT operational tempo (OPTEMPO).
My second priority is to provide Fires and Effects Cells (FECs) that replace fire support elements (FSEs) in our maneuver force at every level from the company to the UEy as the backbone of the ground force's ability to employ joint fires and effects. The FECs are joint-capable, lethal and nonlethal effects coordinating centers.
Third we will build Fires Brigades for the echelon above the BCTs ...the UExs and possibly UEy. The Fires Brigade combines the functions of today's corps artillery, FA brigade and division artillery. Ideally, we will have a Fires Brigade for every UEx.
The BCT's Fires Battalions
Each maneuver brigade commander now has an organic Fires Battalion with 16 guns. His FA battalion has two eight-gun batteries that each has two firing platoons. Figure 1 shows an Infantry BCT Fires Battalion. A Heavy BCT Fires Battalion is essentially the same, exchanging the 105-mm cannons for 155-mm cannons and adding a Q-37 Firefinder radar.
The purpose of the Fires Battalion is to provide you immediately responsive, all-weather, all-terrain close supporting precision and suppressive fires.
Massing that 16-gun Fires Battalion remains a mission-essential task list (METL) capability. But fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom has taught us you need platoon-sized elements with four guns to track your patrols and lay on your highest priority targets. You will have four organic platoons to support your patrols in your Fires Battalion and more if...