FM-3-09 Fire Support and Field Artillery Operations Download
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Foundations of Fire Support and the Role of the Field Artillery 30 April 2020 FM 3-09 1-9 TRAIN AS YOU FIGHT 1-29. The Army fights and trains as a combined arms team by training tasks and weapons conducted jointly by associated warfighting functions and functional units. Fire supporters and FA also train using multi- echelon training techniques capitalizing on the inherent relationships among higher, lower, and adjacent units that habitually operate together. Commanders must create and integrate realistic training environments by replicating the complexities of the expected multi-domain operational environment, including: electronic warfare (EW), denied, degraded, or disrupted space operational environment (D3SOE) across their formations, in addition to operations in a CBRN OE. Whenever possible, incorporate multinational partner personnel and units during training events to increase interoperability and shared understanding of capabilities and limitations of FS systems. Multinational operations is a collective term to describe military actions conducted by forces of two or more nations, usually undertaken within the structure of a coalition or alliance (JP 3-16). 1-30. FA and FS training must be efficiently planned, resourced, and executed. Utilizing virtual and constructive training resources enables units to enter into live training better prepared. Simulation can build proper muscle memory without expending valuable, limited live training resources. Constructive training enables the staff to replicate the tempo of targeting and execution in large-scale ground combat operations. Fully incorporating systems such as warfighter simulation (referred to as WARSIM), call for fire trainer (referred to as CFFT), training aids, devices, simulators, and simulations (referred to as TADSS), and all the capabilities the combat training centers (referred to as CTCs) offer is vital to collective training. Live fire training not only ties this all together with a heightened sense of things, but also places the necessary stresses on the platforms and systems, validating that these weapons with operators can do what they are designed to do under all conditions. TRAIN TO STANDARD 1-31. The Army is task and standards based as it trains, the descriptive unit training tool used are the combined arms training strategies. Commanders must ensure that their units master the fundamental’s building on a solid foundation as the soldiers execute progressively complex tasks. TRAIN TO SUSTAIN 1-32. Once the unit achieves required task and weapon proficiencies it strives to maintain these proficiencies within the band of excellence. Many factors affect FS and FA training proficiency such as personnel turbulence, skill atrophy, and maintenance of equipment, physical fitness, and new equipment fielding and training. Successful commanders understand these factors and ensure that the training proficiencies attained do not degrade to a less than acceptable level. To overcome the anticipated highs and lows of training proficiency, commanders continually re-evaluate training plans, current proficiencies, and strategies. Sustaining high levels of proficiency sometimes proves more difficult than developing proficiency from a starting point. 1-33. Commanders must incorporate digital sustainment in their unit training plans. Digital sustainment training must be conducted with attention to detail and adherence to time standards. Digital tasks and troubleshooting procedures are perishable skills that need to be reinforced on a regular basis. Focus of this training must be at the end user level of the FS and FA C2 systems. All efforts must be expended to conduct this training in a field environment or over distances to replicate a field environment. The speed, accuracy, and responsiveness of fires in support of a commander's concept of operations depends on the proficiency with which firing units and TA capabilities utilize when communicating with digital systems. 1-34. The FA certification and qualification program is a commander's program and is a collaborative effort between the institutional and the operational force. FA commanders continuously assesses the unit's proficiency and readiness to perform its mission essential tasks. Each commander implements gunnery programs to achieve and sustain unit readiness and proficiency in these tasks. The commander uses all the resources available to implement an efficient gunnery program; which maximizes the use of ammunition, training area availability, and Soldier training time to sustain proficiency. Commanders need to know that