United States Army Field Artillery Corps

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For other uses, see Field artillery (disambiguation).

Branch insignia of the U.S. Army Field Artillery, representing two crossed field guns

The U.S. Army Field Artillery was founded on 17 November 1775 by the Continental Congress, which unanimously elected Henry Knox "Colonel of the Regiment of Artillery". The regiment formally entered service on 1 Jan 1776. Although Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery are separate branches, both inherit the traditions of the Artillery branch.

1 Mission Statement
2 History
3 Miscellaneous Information
4 See also
5 External links to US Army Field Artillery Base and Professional Magazine

[edit] Mission Statement

The mission of Field Artillery is to destroy, neutralize, or suppress the enemy by cannon, rocket, and missile fire and to help integrate all fire support assets into combined arms operations.

[edit] History

The U.S. Army Field Artillery is one of the Army's combat arms, traditionally one of the three major officer branches (with Infantry and Armor). It refers to those units that use artillery weapons systems to deliver surface-to-surface long range indirect fire. Indirect fire means that the projectile does not follow the line of sight to the target. Mortars are not field artillery weapons; they are organic to infantry units and are manned by infantry personnel.

The term Field Artillery is to distinguish from the modern Air Defense Artillery, and historically, from the Coast Artillery (or Coastal Defense Artillery), a branch which existed from 1901-1950. In 1950, the two branches were unified and called simply Artillery, until air defense was made into a separate branch in 1968. The insignia of the Field Artillery branch is a pair of crossed field guns (19th-century style cannons) in gold, and dates back to 1834.

The officially stated mission of the Field Artillery is to destroy, neutralize, or suppress the enemy by cannon, rocket, and missile fire and to help integrate all fire support assets into combined arms operations.

The "home" of the U.S. Army Field Artillery and the Field Artillery School are at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, which also publishes the Field Artillery Magazine, a bimonthly magazine published for Army and Marine Field Artillerymen stationed around the world.

Field artillery is called the "King of Battle" due to its claim of having inflicted the most casualties in every conflict since its inception. (This claim is demonstrably false in the case of the American Civil War, where artillery accounted for about ten percent of casualties.) Conflicts in the 20th Century saw artillery become exponentially more effective as indirect fire methods were introduced immediately prior to WWI. During "World War I" and World War II, field artillery was the single highest casualty-producing weapons system on any battlefield.

Members of the Field Artillery are referred to as "Red Legs" because during the American Civil War (and perhaps previously) they were distinguished by red stripes down the pant legs of their uniforms.

The US Army currently employs three main types of Field Artillery weapons systems. The three towed howitzer weapon systems in use are the M102 (105 mm) (used primarily by honor guards), the M119A1/A2 (105 mm) and the M198 (155 mm) howitzers. Currently in development is the M777 155 mm towed howitzer. The self-propelled M109A6 Paladin is a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer. The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) is the Field Artillery's heaviest and longest-ranged weapons system, a self-propelled rocket launcher using either 270 mm unguided rockets or the guided Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) Block I missile. On a related note, the United States Marine Corps currently uses only the M198 howitzer, and plans to transition to the M777 when it is fielded.

During the Cold War, the Field Artillery was responsible for all mobile ballistic missiles weapons systems, including the Lance and Pershing II ballistic missiles.