What does an Artillery platoon consist of? What does a 2nd Lieutenant do in an Artillery battery? thanks?
Hey so I am thinking about ROTC and something I would want to do is Field Artillery. I am just trying to figure out what exactly a 2nd Lieutenant does while working in Field Artillery. I know he or she leads a platoon size element but I don’t know what that relates to when it comes to cannons. Like would I command 4 cannons if I decided to work with self-propelled artillery?
Thanks for the help.
There are differnt part of Field Artillery.
As a 2LT, there are 3 general jobs you get.
1) Fire Support Officer. In this job you are actually in an Armor or Infantry Company and lead a team of forward observers that direct artillery fires on the battlefied.
2) Fire Direction Officer. In this job, you direct the fires of a battery. This includes being able to calculate the ballistics of the round. Most of this is done by computer now.
3) Platoon Leader. In this job you are the leader of the platoon. The Platoon Leader’s big job is coordinating the movement of the platoon from one firing position to another.
Basically, the Fire Support Officer tells them where to fire at, the Fire Direction Officer tells them how and when to fire, and the Platoon Leader tells them where to set up to fire from.
As for a platoon, it varies. There are several types of platoons.
Heavy Platoons (Self Propelled) have tracked howitzers and ammunitin vehicles and one fire direction center the FDO works out of. Typically 3 howitzers, 3 ammo tracks, 1 FDC, and one hummer. These used to have 4 per platoon, but that was cut back to 3 with the Paladin.
Light artillery generally has only one battery and doesn’t break down into platoons. A light battery usually has 6 guns, 6 hummers or trucks to pull them and carry ammo and 1 fire direction center. Sometimes light batteries break down into platoons and split the FDC into two.
There is also a survey platoon that does recon of firing points and uses survey equipment to get the best accuracy on the location of the individual gun and sometimes the observer as well.
There are also Counterfire Radar Platoons. These can vary and new equipment is coming available for these, so their organization is changing. These radars detect incoming artillery fire and direct artillery fires back against them
MLRS platoons generally have 3 launchers and 3 Hemets (large trucks) for ammo.
There are differnt part of Field Artillery.
As a 2LT, there are 3 general jobs you get.
1) Fire Support Officer. In this job you are actually in an Armor or Infantry Company and lead a team of forward observers that direct artillery fires on the battlefied.
2) Fire Direction Officer. In this job, you direct the fires of a battery. This includes being able to calculate the ballistics of the round. Most of this is done by computer now.
3) Platoon Leader. In this job you are the leader of the platoon. The Platoon Leader’s big job is coordinating the movement of the platoon from one firing position to another.
Basically, the Fire Support Officer tells them where to fire at, the Fire Direction Officer tells them how and when to fire, and the Platoon Leader tells them where to set up to fire from.
As for a platoon, it varies. There are several types of platoons.
Heavy Platoons (Self Propelled) have tracked howitzers and ammunitin vehicles and one fire direction center the FDO works out of. Typically 3 howitzers, 3 ammo tracks, 1 FDC, and one hummer. These used to have 4 per platoon, but that was cut back to 3 with the Paladin.
Light artillery generally has only one battery and doesn’t break down into platoons. A light battery usually has 6 guns, 6 hummers or trucks to pull them and carry ammo and 1 fire direction center. Sometimes light batteries break down into platoons and split the FDC into two.
There is also a survey platoon that does recon of firing points and uses survey equipment to get the best accuracy on the location of the individual gun and sometimes the observer as well.
There are also Counterfire Radar Platoons. These can vary and new equipment is coming available for these, so their organization is changing. These radars detect incoming artillery fire and direct artillery fires back against them
MLRS platoons generally have 3 launchers and 3 Hemets (large trucks) for ammo.
References :
vagabond gave you a great answer. Hope for an FSO slot, it rocks.
References :
Cavalry Troop FSNCO.
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