Through a clear blue sky, 3rd Infantry Division units rained steel and explosives on Fort Stewart’s impact area Tuesday morning.
Along with the 18th Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Bragg, N.C., soldiers from the 3rd ID’s Division Artillery took aim at an impact area on Fort Stewart, testing their skills as part of Marne Combine. The division recently completed a Marne Focus with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, and the scenarios from that exercise were part of the artillery’s plans.
“What we are replicating is how we would fight large-scale combat operations,” said Lt. Col. Jeremy Brown, deputy fire support coordinator.
Battery A of the 1/9 Field Artillery Battalion cranked up its massive M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers Tuesday morning, not long after the 18th Field Artillery Brigade demonstrated its HIMARS, or high-mobility artillery rocket system. The HIMARS, introduced into the Army in the late 1990s, can fire up to six guided multiple launch rocket system projectiles or one ATACMS, an Army tactical missile system.
While Tuesday morning’s launch was at a target five to six miles away, the HIMARS can strike targets at up to 100 kilometers, or close to 60 miles from its launch point.
“Having that capability, that lethality, gives the division an advantage over the enemy in terms of standoff firepower and range,” said Col. Shawn Bault, the Division Artillery commander for the 3rd ID.
When the 3rd ID has gone to combat, it hasn’t gone alone. It often will have other units, with special functions, attached — such as the 18th Field Artillery Brigade, which is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The brigade’s 3/27 Field Artillery Battalion brings with it the ability to strike enemy forces and positions well beyond the reach of the 3rd ID’s guns, including its Paladin howitzers.
“This is how the 3rd Infantry Division fights,” Lt. Col. Brown said. “It’s very important to synchronize and build trust with elements we would go to war with.”
While in Europe on a deployment, Col. Bault and the 18th Field Artillery Brigade commander, a West Point classmate, discussed training together once the units got back home.
Putting the HIMARS to use, along with the Gray Eagle drones and the 3rd ID’s own howitzer batteries, gives the 3rd ID the firepower to “shape the battlefield,” Col. Bault said, and to take the fight to the enemy far beyond the front lines.
“The deep fight — that’s where the division relies on the rockets, relies on our Apaches and relies on our cannons,” he said. “The distance that rocket can fire off to, having that capability, that lethality, gives the division an advantage over the enemy in terms of standoff firepower and range.”
It’s also good training for the HIMARS battery, Capt. William Patterson, commander of B Battery of 3/27 Field Artillery Battalion, said. “It’s always good when we can work with our partners across the XVIII Airborne Corps,” he said. “For us to be able to help out the Marne soldiers accomplish their training objectives and accomplish ours is a special event. What’s special about this is doing it in an unfamiliar place and integrating with our DIVARTY partners in the 3rd ID.
“We like to train how we fight. It really develops our leaders and their subordinates and how they are going to deploy these weapons systems. It allows us to build that trust. Getting these reps in training and building that trust between our two units is fantastic.”
The firing of the HIMARS may be the first for an Army unit at Fort Stewart, Col. Bault said. And there’s more that goes into it than just the truck rolling out and the rockets launching into the atmosphere.
“Just to shoot that rocket takes a lot of people making sure the right data is sent down to the launcher to shoot,” he said.
The fire mission and the Paladin shoot is a culmination of numerous hours of expertise, Lt. Col. Brown pointed out.
Getting to train with each other also allows the units to develop a trust with each other, the commanders noted.
“It’s very important to synchronize and build trust with elements we would go to war with,” Lt. Col. Brown added.
A HIMARS mission, a Paladin shoot and the use of the Gray Eagle drone were scheduled to be part of the Marne Combine. Col. Bault said they take the exercises seriously, since they don’t know when they will get called to put those skills to use against an enemy.
“Every rep could be the last and we try to take advantage of those opportunities,” he said. Marne Combine allows the soldiers to showcase their skills, knowing that potential adversaries are watching, Lt. Col. Brown said.
“Our customers are the American citizens and our allies and our partners,” he said, “and they should have trust and confidence in our expertise and strength.”
