1) Field Artillery in the Army utilizes cannons to destroy enemies from a distance through coordinated firepower.
2) Field Artillery officers are responsible for troops, equipment, and complex operations depending on their rank from platoon leader to general.
3) Field Artillery officers require higher education and continuing education to advance, and read publications like Army Times to stay updated in their field.
3. What is Field Artillery? Field Artillery in the Army is known as the “King of Battle”. It essentially utilizes modern cannons to place large explosive rounds down range. Nothing can destroy the enemy faster and more effectively. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS_747fjg5s
4. What is Field Artillery? “Artillerymen coordinate multiple entities to achieve effects on the battlefield. We must understand the commander's intent and what assets we have available to achieve the mission.” (Atkinson) “The Army's fire power, without Field Artillery the Army can't effectively defeat its enemy by determent, massive fire power or it's simple ability to destroy a target from a "safe" distance.” (Bradley)
5. What is Field Artillery “Field Artillery is the branch of the Army that synchronizes all available supporting fires to the maneuver command, both lethal and non-lethal.” (Taylor)
6. What is a Field Artillery Officer A Field Artillery officer is someone that the Army has put in charge of troops and millions of dollars worth of equipment. “Artillery Officers must be agile, flexible and adaptive and possess the abilities to understand and implement destructive , lethal fires as well aspsychological operations, civil-military operations, electronic warfare operations and be able to target all of these things.” (Taylor)
7. Typical Duties of a Field Artillery Officer The duties of a Field Artillery officer vary depending upon rank. A 2nd Lieutenant is typically a platoon leader and responsible for 20-40 men as well as any equipment assigned to the platoon. A 1st Lieutenant is usually an executive officer meaning that he is responsible for all the supplies his company needs.
8. Typical Duties of a Field Artillery Officer A Captain can either be a staff officer or a company commander responsible for around 150-200 soldiers. From Major to General, the responsibilities continue to increase from the amount of soldiers to more complex operations.
9. Education Needed The Army requires that officers continue to seek higher education as well as a plethora of Army schools to be promoted. Lieutenants and Captains must have a Bachelors Degree. Majors and above need at least a Masters Degree.
10. What Field Artillery Officers Read Daily: Army Times Weekly: Army Times, Time, Newsweek Monthly: FIRES Bulletin, CALL Documents (Center for Army Lessons Learned), Field Artillery Journal, Soldiers Magazine. Yearly: Random books on military history and leadership.
11. Future Officers It is imperative that students begin reading everything they can on their future career field. Students should read up on “Anything and everything they can about military history and leadership. Particularly books as they relate to leadership in the Global War on Terror” (Taylor). As well as “understand basics of ballistics and general physics” (Bradley).
12. Current Officers Good Professionals should always be keeping up with current events, keeping current in the field as well as “strategic planning and learning from others’ mistakes” (Bradley). FIRES Bulletin and Field Artillery Journal are critical in the field.
13. What Field Artillery Officers Write What an officer writes varies greatly on what his position is. Examples from current officers include: “I write something every day --lots of email responses. But I also write letters of recommendations, Evaluation reports, Awards, Requests for just about anything., Operations Orders, Memorandums of Instruction” (Taylor).
14. What Field Artillery Officers Write “Most writings deal with orders and upcoming operations. All aspects of the training event are addressed from contracts to graphics” (Atkinson). All Army writing is done in accordance with AR 25-50. http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r25_50.pdf
15. Future Officers “A student should be writing as often as possible. It does not matter whatthey write--what matters is that they have good written communication skillsand can clearly and concisely communicate their points and instructions” (Taylor). A student should also be prepared to write Operations Orders (OPORDS) and Fragmentary Orders (FRAGOS).
16. Writing for Other Professionals Professionals in this field do not write for one another very often. A few higher ranking officers (Lieutenant Colonel and above) do occasionally send articles to be published in the Field Artillery Journal.
17. Examples of Army Writing The Field Artillery Journal, FIRES Bulletin, and Soldiers Magazine all demonstrate the types of writing that are done in the Field Artillery branch. The articles that appear in each magazine are to the point with very little fluff.
18. How Do I Become a Field Artillery Officer? First you must be qualified to become an Army Officer by either attending Officer Candidate School, West Point Military Academy, or by going through four years of Reserve Officer Training Corps in college. Once qualified you must request what branch you wish to serve in and be high enough on the Order of Merit list to be selected.
19. Bibliography Atkinson, Jason, Captain. E-mail Interview by LexLong. 30 Nov 2009. Bradley, Kevin, Major. E-mail Interview by Lex Long. 30 Nov 2009 Taylor, Clark, Lieutenant Colonel. E-mail Interview by Lex Long. 30 Nov 2009.
20. Bibliography United States. Field Artillery Journal. US Field Artillery Association, 2007. Print. United States. FIRES Magazine. US Field and Air Defense Artillerymen, 2009. Print. United States. Soldiers Magazine. Crystal City: Defense Media Activity, 2009. Print.
