At the National Training Center, we spend time assisting units to build their understanding of doctrine, the operations process, the science of control, and the fundamentals our units must execute on the modern battlefield. While critical to our success on future battlefields, some rotational units overlook the most critical element of combat power: leadership.
Staff products feed, drive, run, and track battlefield operations. Those products have a direct impact on soldiers (see figure 1). Effective staff products correlate with conducting command and control, which in-turn produces better situational awareness at echelon. If the outputs of the staff processes hold that much impact, who certifies staffs to ensure they are ready to perform? Units need an outlined process for staff certification. Staff certification increases staff confidence, enables better staff synchronization, expedites the operations process, reduces friction, and provides a venue to solidify processes and procedures unique for staff atmospherics.
When preparing for a major operation such as a deployment or a Combat Training Center (CTC) rotation, the volume of tasks that need to be accomplished to standard in a short amount of time can amaze the best commanders. Prior to, during and after deployment, many commanders find that maintenance consumes a disproportionately large amount of time. Even as the Commander of Operations Group, I often find myself more focused on maintenance and sustainment more than many other areas. Why? The answer is simple: An insufficient maintenance program can grind any brigade combat team (BCT) to a halt, even more so than an opposing force. You can’t fix it after first contact. Once you’re in the middle of a fight, it’s too late.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a context for Field Artillery (FA) units executing offensive operations in a Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE). The specific unit of focus for this paper is the Brigade Combat Team’s (BCT), Direct Support (DS) Field Artillery (FA) Battalion. The primary audiences for this paper are Fires Battalion Staff Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers, Battery and Forward Support Company Commanders, and First Sergeants. This paper is a collaboration of Key Developmental billet complete Observer Coach Trainers (OC/Ts) with an aggregate of ~100 rotations of experience at the National Training Center (NTC) Fort Irwin, CA.
The U.S. Army’s Combined Arms Battalions (CABs) form the core of the Armored Brigade Combat Team’s (ABCT) striking power. They include main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, 120mm mortars, and infantry squads. This impressive grouping of combat platforms and soldiers requires the company commander to skillfully employ and integrate platoons. Company commanders enable the CAB commander to rapidly combine arms. Based on observations of CABs executing offensive operations at the National Training Center (NTC), numerous shortfalls exist at the company level that impact the CAB’s ability to maintain momentum and extend operational reach. Units that can’t perform fundamental company and platoon-level tasks during the plan, prepare and execute phases of an operation will stall the CAB commander’s efforts to synchronize actions and achieve desired effects against enemy formations. To minimize this degradation in combat power, armor and mechanized infantry company commanders should consider the following best practices.
The non-commissioned officer has always been the backbone of our Army. No matter what type of conflict America has faced, our Non-Commissioned Officer Corps has risen to the challenge each and every time. As our Army continues to refine our ability to conduct Large Scale Combat Operations, the non-commissioned officers of Operations Group at the National Training Center have truly risen to the challenge. Outlaw 40 and the senior NCOs from throughout Operations Group constructed this handbook specifically for NCOs, paying particular attention to rotational observations and current doctrine. They established a cross walk guide for numerous non-commissioned officer positions at echelon throughout brigade combat teams and clearly articulated how the great non-commissioned officers in a unit can help their team fight and win.
Long-gone are the days of wide area security operations from static, built-up locations. The changing nature of war will reward flexibility and an expeditionary mindset, and punish conformists. Commanders and units have become comfortable with medical plans that assume very little risk regarding placement of the Battalion Aid Station (BAS). With the Army’s renewed focus on large scale combat operations (LSCO), leaders must consider employing the BAS and medical platoon in ways that have largely went untrained and unpracticed. To save as many lives as possible, commanders and leaders must consider placement of the BAS as far forward as tactically feasible.
Developing an effective training program represents a challenge for any unit. At the brigade level, simply resourcing and synchronizing a training program that creates capable subordinate formations easily consumes nearly all available time. Further, necessarily weighting the predominance of available training time and resources at the company level and below to maintain small unit proficiency constitutes another essential demand on a brigade’s organizational energy.
The BCT’s military intelligence company provides a diverse set of capabilities to a Brigade Combat Team. Whether facilitating the execution of HUMINT operations in a local urban area, SIGINT operations by attaching small teams forward with reconnaissance elements, or information collection activities with UAV assets, every MICO should allow the Commander to better understand the tactical situation. Yet, to employ this formation effectively, it should be intimately comfortable operating in small teams, dispersed throughout the organization, trained to provide capability when and where it is needed to facilitate intelligence operations. Too often, Commanders relegate the training of these small teams to a series of command post exercises without critically thinking through how to best employ these crucial Soldiers on a modern battlefield.
Engineer Companies represent some of the most diverse, in demand, formations in a Brigade Combat Team in a DATE scenario. Capable of providing mobility, counter-mobility, or survivability assets these formations uniquely shape a BCTs ability to maneuver against a determined enemy. Effectively integrating these highly specialized units into the scheme of maneuver requires sound SOPs, thoughtful consideration during planning, meticulous tracking during preparation, and integrated support from other maneuver units in the midst of execution. Whether you are a Company or BCT Commander, understanding how to properly integrate engineer support into your operations is paramount to success.
