The Army Weapons Officer: A Solution for Joint Fires
Abstract
There are three primary reasons why the U.S. Army is uniformly poor at joint fires. The first reason is the current accelerated increase in technology. The Army does not have enough experts who, at the joint targeting level, are familiar enough with the technical aspects of the new weapon systems to be able to utilize them effectively. Secondly, the personnel primarily responsible for the coordination of joint fires are relatively untrained in the multimodal aspects of fires. The conglomerated structure of joint targeting relies on the collaboration of many personnel expertly trained within their specific domain or with their particular system. Few are trained jointly, and few, if any, are certified with the joint systems. The third and last reason is due to the current Army structure having Field Artillery officers responsible for its execution, but neglecting their joint certification and training requirements. Field Artillery officers are responsible for joint fires, yet the Army neither requires nor offers them any literal joint training that is proportionate to this monumental task. The fires community has no personnel who can conjoin the skill-sets of both the Master Gunner and the Targeting Officer to integrate Army fires across the entire joint force. The solution to this problem lies with the development of a tactical expert who is prepared to integrate fires at the operational level: the U.S. Army Weapons Officer.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 12, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1124601
Entities
People
- Jonathan D. Damalouji
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College