Posted on 07/18/2019 4:22:09 AM PDT by tlozo
The U.S. Army Field artillery going back again to manual methods of fire direction and gunnery after lessons of Russian intervention in Ukraine.
The U.S. Army has not had to contend with electronic warfare during the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the conflict in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region showed an increase of electronic attack threat levels.
With the growing threat of cyberattacks, the U.S. Army Field Artillery School has placed a renewed emphasis on learning manual methods.
“Bringing back the charts is a big deal,” said Staff Sgt. Chad Payne, an instructor for the 13J fire control specialist course. “If you don’t understand the chart, you won’t actually understand what the automated system is doing for you.”
About a decade ago, the school began reducing its emphasis on teaching manual methods, said Col. Samuel Saine, assistant commandant. That’s because improvements to the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System enabled AFATADS to be used effectively in all situations, he said, and it dramatically sped up the firing process.
Then electronic warfare in Crimea and Ukraine shut systems down there, and at the same time, cyberattacks began disabling automation systems at civilian firms. These attacks “woke some people up,” Saine said.
Over the past year, the Field Artillery School commandant has made it a priority to reinsert manual or degraded operations back into the program of instruction for all courses, Saine said.
The renewed emphasis is not only in advanced individual training for new Soldiers, he said, but also in all of the officer courses from basic up to the pre-command course for colonels.
Now students begin AIT using maps to plot and they learn the math behind firing solutions.
“They’ll do manual operations until we know they fully understand the basics,” Payne said, explaining only then do students move on to the automated system.
This method provides students with a better appreciation of the concepts, he said, enabling them to “hit the ground running” at their first units.
They are also better prepared when electronic warfare takes the AFATADS system offline, he said, and degraded operations are now part of the scenario during AIT field exercises.
When systems go down, Soldiers are now trained on how to transition between the automated and manual methods, confirmed Pvt. Cynthia Antaya, a 13J student at the school.
EW can affect communications, automated systems and access to GPS. So 13J Soldiers break out their charts, pencils, plotting pins and protractors for degraded operations.
“It’s going to be important to know your charts and darts and how to go manual and still be able to continue on with your job, even when everything’s down,” Antaya said.
It’s essential that artillery sections “never sway from our No. 1 task,” Saine emphasized, “and that No. 1 task is to provide uninterrupted fires to the maneuver elements of our Army — the infantry and armor.”
Manual or degraded operations for firing howitzers are actually a 20-level task for the gunner and primarily only 10-level tasks are taught at AIT, said Staff Sgt. Rodrick Stone, an instructor for the 13B cannon crewmember course.
Some instructors, however, still demonstrate manual sighting for the students, Stone said.
“I believe it’s very important that they learn both ways, because in the event that the digital goes down, you have to have a failsafe — a backup plan,” he said.
The Field Artillery School has helped work degraded operations into the program of instruction for the Advanced Leadership Course, Saine said. Since howitzer gunners are by doctrine sergeants, learning how to manually sight howitzers is emphasized in ALC, he said.
With degraded operations, the gunner switches to a panoramic telescopic sight, Stone said. Aiming poles and firing stakes are used. “We already have an additional primary aiming reference that’s set up; he instantly sights in off of that,” Stone said.
Then the traverse hand wheel is spun manually to raise or lower elevation of the howitzer tube, he explained.
“When I was coming in, degraded operations was the only thing that was going on,” Stone said. “There was no digital systems at the time.”
Now the threat of cyber warfare once again makes degraded operations of paramount importance, he said.
“We have more capacity and capability than they do,” Saine said of the enemy, “so they’re going to try to find creative ways to degrade and deny some of our systems.”
The emphasis on degraded operations is not only happening in the schoolhouse, it’s in the field as well, Saine said. Doctrine has been updated and so have performance standards.
Training Circular 3-09.8 for fire support was recently updated with increased performance standards for manual gunnery and degraded operations.
The chief of field artillery emphasizes degraded operations at fires conferences and at quarterly meetings with division artillery commanders, Saine said.
“It’s not just a Fort Sill thing,” Saine said. “He believes very strongly it needs to be informed by the operational force.”
Preparing for EW is not only practical, he said, but it also creates a more well-rounded force.
“What we found along the way is that we actually were increasing the proficiency of our Soldiers and our leaders,” Saine said, “because it helped them understand to a higher degree how everything worked together.”
Along with the Missouri (et al )you had better fit them, bristling with phalanx systems and other protection devices Big ships like these make excellent targets for hi tech missiles at 2-3x Mach 1.
What I see is a military leadership; officer and enlisted, smart enough to think about the future and adjust based on current conditions.
It sometimes makes me shake my head when some “I-know-everything” FReepers chime in about how stupid the military is or this or that decision or weapon is so wrong or outdated.
The military is like Allstate—”You’re in good hands.”
Sure, FUBAR’s happen, but generally we should be proud of the American fighting force. They’re good at what they do.
Yeah... That's what I was thinking... Better not give them a pencil..! They would think it was some kind of new stabbing weapon... :)
Not saying they should be steaming around on their own, but, yes, a shiny new R2 unit would be a sensible upgrade.
In a calc course, we had to show how we arrived at the functions we plotted on graph paper. I had a TI-86 graphics calculator that I used to check my answers with. Technology is great to have around, but understanding the fundamentals is more useful.
Sure it does. It's why being on the survey team can be a rather dangerous job, thought they're generally going to be surveying battery positions that are behind/been cleared by the maneuver elements.
“Now maybe Walmart and other retailers need to leach cashiers how to count change the old fashioned way. “
Recently, a seventy-something cashier counted my change for me. I said, “Oh, my gosh! A cashier who can count change!” I thought he’d bust a gut laughing.
I remember when automation hit the FA and the GIGO Factor jumped! Seeing 1600 mil firing errors, “Because that is what came out of the computer, Sir!”.
If you are going to be a Field Artilleryman, you have to know ballistics. As a Fire Direction Officer, you have to have the ballistics table in your head so that when you hear a range, quadrant and charge, you have to know it is in the safe zone. Many times, I caught errors, just by listening.
Computers are great, but just because they go down, you are still obligated to do your job. Grunt and Treadheads are counting on you!
Field Artillery, Often mistaken for the Wraith of God!
I think you missed the point. The reason military organizations are planning for operations the old fashioned way is because of the potential or likely disruption of cyber networks. (Read: GPS)
If cyber warfare expands to the economic instrument of national power (that is very likely) not only will the cashiers be counting change but the old fashioned cash register will be back in style. Remember writing hand receipts from a pad?
I would not get comfortable using the credit card network. Plan on cash. At least for a while anyway.
I know....I am a doomsday person. Personally, I always plan for the worst and hope for the best.
Of course when I was a mediocre 0844 I never bothered to ask why we always had to search for the survey stake out there in the desert.
Good first step. Now get the girls out of FA that cannot lift an artillery round to load a howitzer and other vital aspects of being in the King of Battle, Artillery. (Retired Army Artillery Officer)
No but we pay very close attention to what is happening there with Russian weapons and tactics. The Ukrainians are only too happy to share with us.
Great question. We had ours in map cases we could draw on with grease pencils. No computers, no GPS, just old fashion movement from point A to B.
In the early 80's I was teaching 98C at Ft. Devens. The overview lesson plan had us teaching that CW was no longer used.
At the same time there were 05H (058 for you old people, 98H for the post VN folks.) classes being taught across the quad.
Not sure if it is true but I recall hearing several years ago that maps are no longer distributed to the troops.
10 years ago who was Commander in Chief?
“Plan on cash. At least for a while anyway.”
I do and keep a good supply of currency and coins here, “just in case”. I don’t want to have to barter ammo. Of course if the whole thing goes down, the currency can be used for one other function so keep a lot of ones!
My favorite bill by the way is the $2 note. Whenever we get a youngster about, I take the time to explain what the portrait on the backside of the bill is about as I present them with it.
Only Marine my unit lost was one we'd had to detach to the battalion survey team.
Reminds me of the Naval Academy bringing back teaching navigation using a sextant and chronometer.
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