Cannons in early entry operations: Millennium Challenge 2002

FA Journal, May-June, 2003 by Steven A. Lieutenant Colonel Sliwa, Robert O. Majors Kirkland, Rodney L. Olson

During Millennium Challenge in the summer of 2002, a series of battles were fought at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, California, using a combination of live and simulated forces. The first battle required the 2d Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division, along with its direct support (DS) artillery battalion, 2d Battalion, 319th Field Artillery (2-319 FA), to accomplish a forced-entry operation and seize a flight landing strip in a classified Mid-Eastern country. The airborne brigade successfully seized and expanded the lodgment area and began preparations for follow-on operations.

According to the organizational and operational (O&O) concept for the SBCT, the brigade must be organized, equipped and configured to meet a 96hour deployment standard. At the operational level, it must be deployable intra-theater by C-130 (all end items and stocks must be C-130-transportable) to provide the joint force commander the flexibility to exploit emerging opportunities and hedge against uncertainty.

The joint task force (JTF) commander then ordered elements of the 3d Brigade, 2d Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SECT) to plan an early entry of forces to further expand and protect the airhead as well as prepare for follow-on operations. The SBCT tailored a force that consisted of a Stryker company, a 155-mm (M198) artillery battery and a Q-36 Firefinder radar from 1-37 FA and an antitank platoon to con duct air-land operations into the flight landing strip. The SBCT's follow-on mission was to secure a weapons of mass effects (WME) site.

Early entry is spelled out in the O&O as an essential task that enhances the JTF commander's ability to shape the battlespace. Within this requirement, there are a myriad of fire support tasks, both specified and implied, that must be accomplished to ensure a successful operation.

The 82d Airborne Division Artillery out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, over the years has developed fire support doctrine that covers forced-entry operations. It has provided an azimuth of who does what during this operation. However, there is little doctrinal guidance for follow-on forces spelling out many of the additional implied tasks the early entry force must accomplish and the coordination that must occur between the two elements.

This article explores the critical role of cannon artillery in early entry operations as it follows the forced-entry unit and provides insights into some key considerations and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to ensure success in this type of operation.

Early Entry Packages-The Importance of Cannon Fires. Based on the threat to the lodgment and impending follow-on mission, the 3d brigade staff concluded during its mission analysis that the firepower of an artillery battery and the detection capability of the Q-36 radar were required on the ground very early in the (notional) flow of the brigade's forces. (See Figure 1.) In fact, the Q-36 radar was the first to flow into the theater followed by an Ml 98 battery and an antitank platoon.

The challenge for the SBCT commander was to prioritize assets to employ the optimal mix of direct, indirect, target acquisition (TA) and reconnaissance (recce) assets to accomplish the mission. The SBCT commander has much to choose from when tailoring a force for early entry.

The SBCT has the mobility to expand the operational area and the firepower to conduct immediate follow-on missions. For example, the brigade has 146 Javelin (antitank) launchers in its infantry squads and reconnaissance, surveillance and TA (RSTA) troops; nine platoons of antitank guided missiles (ATGMs); a battalion of 12 M198 155-mm howitzers; one, each, Q-36 and Q-37 radar; and a myriad of other assets from the RSTA squadron (1-14 Cav). (Eventually, the ATGM will be replaced by the mobile gun system, a tank-like, light armored vehicle with a 105-mm gun.)

The RSTA squadron includes up to 18 sections of scouts (known as recce sections), three Shadow tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (TUAVs), ground surveillance radars and remote battlefield sensors, Prophet signals intelligence and electronic warfare (EW) system, and the Fox nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) reconnaissance vehicle.

The threat at the NTC could employ both artillery and mortar fires against the lodgment area and had a mix of Soviet-era tanks, BMPs and limited air assets. The brigade commander's decision to bring his radar and cannon artillery battery into theater in the first few sorties of the operation is based on this threat.

The O&O makes clear that the brigade is vulnerable to casualties when targeted by enemy artillery. Accordingly, the SBCT's artillery, while still responsible for supporting fires, is focused on providing responsive, proactive counterbattery fifes.

The battery of M198s complemented the 18 M119 howitzers from 2-319 FA already on the ground. The M119s that could quickly cover 6,400 mils and the M198s that have increased range and munition variety proved to be a good mix to protect the lodgment. An additional Q-36 radar from the 82d Airborne Division increased the detection capabilities of the force.