FM-3-09 Fire Support and Field Artillery Operations Download
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Chapter 5 5-4 FM 3-09 30 April 2020 to reduce the risk to the overall mission of the force. The sequencing of forces into theater and their subsequent AO considers risks to the mission. 5-12. Successful operations to prevent ensure that tensions and conditions do not escalate further. The very nature of these operations implies that the forces assigned to this task have the capacity to conclude the situation with force. While this is a powerful message to an adversary, there is always the potential for misinterpretation of friendly actions and those misinterpretations leading to large-scale ground combat operations. To reduce the risk of escalation, the theater army considers the initial rules of engagement, force positioning and posture, weapon control status, and operating parameters for example communication with all echelons of command for shared understanding, underwriting risk. 5-13. A flexible response is the capability of military forces for effective reaction to any enemy threat or attack with actions appropriate and adaptable to the circumstances existing (JP 5-0). Flexible response systems are generally punitive in nature, responding to an offensive action by the enemy, and may mark the transition from competition to conflict. Often, the ability to provide a credible flexible response system can act as a flexible deterrent option to deter an adversary's planned offensive action. An example of a flexible response activity involving FS would be executing strikes with air-to-surface or surface-to-surface fires against designated HPTs. Flexible Response In Operation Inherent Resolve in 2017, armed Syrian Army units aligned with hostile paramilitary forces demonstrated threatening actions against US forces and its partners. After significant and appropriate warnings to cease the threatening actions, US forces conducted lethal air to surface strikes as a response resulting in multiple destroyed Syrian ADA and artillery organizations. The remainder of the Syrian Army units withdrew and the threatening action ceased. 5-14. Depending on the adversary's indirect fire capabilities, counterfire may also be required as part of a flexible response option. FA leaders must develop an integrated counterfire plan as part of operations to prevent and to be fully prepared for what may be a rapid transition from competition to conflict. This should include the designation of a counterfire HQ and the delineation of counterfire responsibilities among subordinate units as well as clearly defined ROE to prevent unintentional escalation. For more on counterfire operations, see ATP 3-09.12. 5-15. The geographic combatant commander is responsible for setting the theater in order to establish favorable conditions for the rapid execution of military operations and the support requirements for a specific OPLAN during crisis or conflict. In operations to prevent military conflict, the geographic combatant commander will establish a JTF HQ. Transitioning from shape to prevent, targets will be continuously developed, validated, and added to the restricted target list, and the joint integrated target list. Army HQ in the roles of JTF or LCC must ensure personnel within their formation are properly trained and certified to integrate into targeting work centers capable of basic, intermediate, and advanced target development to the joint standards outlined in Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3370.01C and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3505.01D. 5-16. Force tailoring is the process of determining the right mix of forces and the sequence of their deployment in support of a joint force commander (ADP 3-0). Artillery leaders in the TFC and TFE advise the ASCC on what types of FA units and fire support assets will best meet the needs of the combatant commander as well as the suggested sequencing for those units into the AOR. Regionally aligned forces will likely be among the first forces designated for employment by the geographic combatant commander. FS personnel at theater level should begin coordinating with FA units as soon as they are aligned to the region to begin integrating them into potential theater security cooperation or contingency plans. 5-17. Force projection is the ability to project the military instrument of national power from the United States or another theater, in response to requirements for military operations (JP 3-0). As a theater escalates towards military conflict, force projection can become a race between friendly forces and the potential enemy