New field artillery officers perform combined arms, joint operations exercise

By Jeff Crawley, Fort Sill CannoneerDecember 18, 2014

JTAC1
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A special operations Marine joint terminal attack controller shares tactical information with 2nd Lt. Michael Mueller, Field Artillery Basic Officer Leader Course student, who is on the radio talking to an F-16 pilot Dec. 11, near Contingency Operati... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Fighting Falcon
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – An F-16 "Fighting Falcon" simulates dropping ordnance on the West Range here Dec. 11, during the Red Leg War. Students in FA BOLC served as joint fires observers and worked with Marine joint terminal attack controllers to call in close air support. T... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. (Dec. 18, 2014) -- Soldiers in Field Artillery Basic Officer Leader Course -- Branch (BOLC-B) Class No. 7-14 completed their studies with a Red Leg War that was unique because the students worked as joint fires observers (JFO) with Marine Corps joint terminal attack controllers (JTAC) and live aircraft.

From Dec. 9-11, students working as JFOs identified surface targets on the West Range and provided targeting information to Marine JTACs who authorized close air support strikes from Air Force and Marine aviators.

"This exercise shows our students what a combined arms and joint operation looks like," said Marine Capt. Shawn Burkhart, BOLC fires support instructor. There hasn't been a BOLC exercise like this here in about 10 years.

The Marine JTACs were from the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion (MSOB) at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The aircraft came from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 (VFMA-112), and the Air Force Reserve 457th Fighter Squadron -- both are in Fort Worth, Texas.

Working as JFOs near Contingency Operations Location Mow-Way, the second lieutenants identified surface targets and their locations and passed this information to JTACs. The JFOs could talk directly to pilots, however, only JTACs were authorized to clear the pilots to drop their simulated air-to-surface ordnance, Burkhart said.

The students also called for field artillery fire, evaluated how close rounds were hitting targets and how the fire needed to be adjusted.

JFOs are force multipliers for the JTAC, said Marine Capt. Mark Pinkerton, 1st MSOB CH-53 helicopter pilot.

In combat, JTACS are typically in a tactical operations center receiving information from JFOs who are in the fight.

"If you only have one JTAC assigned to your unit, but you have three JFOs you essentially have three pairs of eyes for the JTAC in three different spots. Each of them can be calling back target data and coordinates, so the JTAC can prosecute those targets without him having to be in all those places."

On Day 3 of the exercise, Pinkerton said the JFO training was going great.

"In the beginning the learning curve was a little steep, but they (students) caught on quickly," he said. "They know what kind of information we (JTACs) want and what forms we use, like feet mean-sea-level versus above-ground-level, or degrees versus mils for direction."

This was the second BOLC class that received the JFO block of instruction, which used to be a separate course from the five-month FA BOLC-B, Burkhart said.

Student 2nd Lt. Joshua Miller said the exercise got him and his classmates "really into the weeds of what it is to be artillery."

"We've learned what we could in the classroom, and now we're putting it to practical application," said Miller, who graduated Dec. 16 along with about 100 of his classmates.

The JFO training was only part of the weeklong course-culminating exercise, which rotated students through every phase of field artillery that they learned in BOLC, Burkhart said.

They also worked in the fire direction center processing fire missions and relaying fire commands to gun crews, and inputting data such as weather conditions which affect fire. The new FA officers also worked as forward observers identifying targets, spotting rounds and assessing their accuracy. And, of course, they worked the gunlines firing 155mm and 105mm howitzers.

"As a capstone event, it's an opportunity for the students to pull all the lessons together in a combined arms fight," said Capt. Robert Wells, BOLC Combined Arms Department instructor. "It's tying together what the maneuver (infantry, armor) commander is asking of them, and using the expertise they've gained during FA BOLC to pull the fires aspect into the maneuver operations."

During BOLC, students worked with JTACs in the classroom, but having the Marine JTACs participate in the Red Leg War was advantageous, Wells said.

"Working with JTACs in exercises is something that they normally wouldn't get until they get to their units," he said.

Marine Capt. Alan Bock, BOLC fires support instructor, said having the JTACS brought experience and realism to the exercise.

"These guys (JTACs) have done things and coordinated fire, so they (students) get to pick their brains, and get to hear and see what right looks like," Bock said.

The special ops Marines were not originally scheduled to work with the BOLC class, but were coming to Fort Sill's Falcon Range for their JTAC close air support qualifications. When Burkhart heard they were coming here he set about integrating the Marines into the capstone exercise to provide the students with invaluable training.

Marine Col. Wayne Harrison, Fort Sill Marine Corps Artillery Detachment commander, observed the joint training Dec. 11, and talked with instructors, JTACs and students.

"I think we need to continue this combined arms training, and this is a first step to make this an annual or semi-annual event," he said.