| TMO: Maintaining certification is a must for precision munitions In an environment where collateral damage may have operational or strategic implications, fires delivered with pinpoint accuracy is a necessity. Continual advancements in the development of precision munitions have allowed commanders at all levels to achieve the desired effects on a target with the minimal number of munitions while minimizing the risk of collateral damage. Commanders now have a wide variety of capabilities to engage a target while mitigating collateral damage. As precision capabilities have grown, so have the requirements for Soldiers with the skills necessary to precisely employ the munition. All field artilleryman know accurate target location is the first and most important of the five requirements for accurate, predicted fire. The skill set fire support Soldiers need to effectively employ munitions like "Excalibur" begins with precision fires certification which encompasses institutional training for Target Coordinate Mensuration (TCM), Weaponeering and Collateral Damage Estimation (CDE), but for the purposes of this article, we will focus on Target Mensuration Only (TMO). Advancement of precision munitions and the reduction in the number of howitzers and rocket launchers in service coupled with operating in an environment with collateral hazards make it necessary to reduce our Target Location Error (TLE) and account for all our effects. With respect to precision munitions, 'close' is not good enough. The effective employment of precision munitions requires a process called Target Coordinate Mensuration (TCM). As stipulated in Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction (CJCSI) 3505.01A, "personnel who conduct target coordinate mensuration must be certified to do so by an accredited institution." The United States Army Fires Center of Excellence (USAFCoE) is the designated Functional Manager for TCM and CDE and is a jointly recognized and accredited training and certification program to address this requirement. To maintain certification in TMO individuals must conduct currency training every six months. Soldiers certified in TMO must accurately mensurate nine out of ten points in each method they are certified in (10 x PSSSOF 10 x PFI). The currency training can be conducted over the SIPR network or implemented by a unit level instructor. The process to create a unit level program or conduct currency training can be found on FKN @ https://www.us.army.mil/suite/page/381318 The bottom line is maintaining TMO currency makes sense on two fronts. First, it saves your organization money. The average cost to recertify your PF personnel at Ft. Sill is $2,500 per individual and the average TMO MTT costs the unit $8,500 in training funds. Secondly, operational readiness is enhanced. The individual recertification and MTT both require a one week obligation. A unit PF program can maintain TMO certifications free via SIPR and requires only a couple hours of time. It just makes good fiscal and operational sense to establish a solid Unit level PF Program at home station, rather than dealing with the complications associated with allowing your Soldiers to lapse on their certifications. |
101st targets cost cuts, efficiency with first-ever precision fires instructor certification By Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Carl (101st Airborne) Several months of training culminated in the certification of three 101st Airborne Division targeting officers as precision fires instructors this week -- the first three in the Army to be certified at a division level. This certification allows them to serve as instructors for the precision fires operator course, which teaches primarily forward observers the process of target mensuration -- or verification -- in order to call for more accurate precision fires. "The 101st is supposed to have more than 500 operators," explained CW2 Joseph Smith, one of the new instructors. "For a mobile training team to come here and teach a class (of 30 students) it would cost the division $10,000." That's a grand total of more than $170,000 to certify all of the required operators in the division, and, up until now, that was the cheapest option. Sending the Soldiers to the Joint Fires Center at Fort Sill, Okla., would cost $3,000 per Soldier, for a whopping $1.5 million. Instead, for less than $5,000, CW4 Jasbir S. Riat came in from Fort Sill, where he serves as the Army's program lead for targeting mensuration, to evaluate and certify the instructors. Around 2010, the Army stood up its targeting mensuration program through the Joint and Combined Integration Directorate with National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency accreditation, Riat explained. Soldiers relied on other branches of service to assist or called up to higher echelons. On the battlefield, this could mean the loss of critical seconds to engaging the enemy, or worse, hitting inaccurate targets on the ground because the operating picture was different on the ground than what the higher echelon was seeing on a map. This process was also flawed in that the Soldiers were talking a different language than their joint counterparts who might be the ones engaging the target. "The fight nowadays is a joint fight," said Riat. "We need to be able to talk the same language in order for them to support us and us support them." With operator certification, division will no longer have to call to higher echelons. In fact, the ability to mensurate and engage targets may even reach down to the company level depending on the circumstances and munitions available. Using very specialized software, forward observers use the processes of resection and intersection to determine the exact grids of a target, as well as its elevation. In order to get clearance to engage the target, they have to compare two different views of the target and achieve a Category 1 match. This means the grid coordinates and elevations determined from the two views have to be within very specific measurements of each other. The margin of error in using precision-guided weapons is very low in order to prevent loss of innocent life and collateral damage. This process varies immensely from the methods used in Vietnam. "Back then, we might have to shoot eight guns and 30 rounds in order to get one round right on target," explained CW3 Thomas O'Neil, another newly certified instructor. "We're going away from the World War II carpet bombing techniques." Precision-guided munitions are a large part of how the Army, and the U.S. military as a whole, make that transition. "It's weaponeering," said Smith. "Achieving the desired effects without firing multiple rounds." With their newly acquired instructor certifications, the 101st targeting officers will help bring this improved capability down to the lowest level. Three additional targeting officers from within the division are in the process of being certified, which takes several months to complete. O'Neil explained the goal is to have instructors within each of the brigades, as operators must be tested every 180 days to maintain currency on their certification. Division plans to host quarterly certification, but subordinate units will be able to do their own training as well. The Kinnard Mission Training Complex is facilitating all of the training by providing space and the computers required. This isn't the end all be all though. Representatives from the JACI directorate and NGA will conduct bi-annual audits on the division to ensure the instructors remain proficient in their certification. |
2012 Knox, Hamilton, Gruber awards recipients announced
FORT SILL (Jan. 11, 2013)--The US Army Field Artillery School today announced the winners of the 2012 awards for excellence within the field artillery branch. The recipients include:
• Knox Award - B Battery, 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery in Schweinfurt, Germany
• Hamilton Award - B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery with the Oregon Army National Guard
• Gruber Award - Sgt. 1st Class Thomas A. Robinson with 1st Battalion, 377th Field Artillery (Air Assault), 17th Fires Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
The Henry A. Knox award is given to the best active duty battery, while the most outstanding battery within the Army National Guard is presented the Alexander Hamilton award. An individual whose thought and innovation results in significant contributions to or the enhancement of the field artillery's warfighting capabilities, morale, readiness, and maintenance is awarded the Edmund L. Gruber award.
The Knox, Hamilton and Gruber Awards program promotes, sustains and recognizes excellence within the branch, and this year's recipients were picked from among 70 entries.
Units interested in being considered for the 2013 Knox, Hamilton and Gruber Awards can find information and time lines for submissions on the Field Artillery tab of the Fires Knowledge Network, or contact the Field Artillery Proponent Office at 580-442-3031.
