Field Artillery Dilemma: NTC (National Training Center) Lessons Learned, to Believe or Not to Believe

摘要

Since its inception as a Combined Task Force, Collective Training Evaluation arena, the National Training Center (NTC) has told the Field Artillery Community that there are vital training deficiencies, doctrinal deficiencies and the dire need for direct Field Artillery School involvement in fire support problems and their solutions. The NTC was initially designed to evaluate Mechanized and Armor Task Forces in the conduct of Task Force level collective tasks while integrating the support assets of FA, EN, ADA, and Logistics. Initially the evaluation resources were established to platoon level for maneuver forces but FA was only evaluated at the maneuver interface level, the Fire Support Officer (FSO). In 1985 resources were added to provide Observer/Controllers (OC) to FA battery level. The most professional and seasoned Observer/Controllers reconstruct every collective task for cause and effect and provide feedback on the spot in After-Action Reviews (AAR). FA lessons learned have been forwarded through TRADPC/CAC to Ft. Sill for comment and evaluation where those deficiencies on the whole have been rationalized away or the executing FA battalion is described as poorly trained. The FA community is well behind the Infantry and Armor communities in using the NTC as a collective training laboratory and has not taken the opportunity to make needed changes in FA doctrine, tactics or techniques.