U.S. Army

Field Artillery

Henry Knox dragged cannons from Ticonderoga and the King of Battle has delivered steel rain ever since. Field Artillery has produced more enemy casualties than any other branch in every war. From 142 guns shattering Pickett's Charge to MLRS in Desert Storm to HIMARS changing the war in Ukraine, artillery is the arm that makes the ground shake. Long Range Precision Fires is the Army's #1 modernization priority. The King isn't done.

"King of Battle" Est. 1775

FIELD ARTILLERY

EST. NOVEMBER 17, 1775

U.S. Army Field Artillery

King of Battle — Steel Rain

THE DECISIVE ARM

Henry Knox dragged 60 tons of captured British artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in the winter of 1775 — and the King of Battle has been delivering steel rain ever since. Field Artillery has produced more enemy casualties than any other branch in every war. From Napoleon guns at Gettysburg to the 105mm howitzers at Bastogne to MLRS batteries in Desert Storm to HIMARS in Ukraine, artillery is the arm that makes the ground shake. When the infantry is pinned down, they call for fire. And fire always comes. Read more

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Civil War Through WWI 1861 – 1918

GETTYSBURG · ANTIETAM

Civil War Artillery

Smoothbore to Rifled — Pickett's Charge

12-Pounder Smoothbore

Rifled Artillery

POINT BLANK DEFENSE

Civil War artillery killed more soldiers than any other weapon on the battlefield. At Gettysburg, 142 Union guns on Cemetery Ridge shattered Pickett's Charge — canister rounds fired at point-blank range into massed Confederate infantry. The war drove rapid innovation from smoothbore Napoleons to rifled Parrotts, from solid shot to explosive shell. Artillery doctrine evolved from direct fire support to indirect fire — the foundation of every fire mission since. Read more

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World War I — The Artillery War

"Artillery Conquers, Infantry Occupies"

French 75 · Standard

Guns · M-A Offensive

Barrage Doctrine

OF ALL CASUALTIES

World War I was an artillery war — 65% of all casualties on the Western Front were caused by artillery. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive opened with over 3,000 guns firing a rolling barrage that walked ahead of the infantry. American artillerymen adopted the French 75mm as their standard field piece and learned the science of predicted fire, counterbattery operations, and massed fires that would define the branch for the next century. Captain Harry Truman commanded a field artillery battery in France. The future president was a redleg first. Read more

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WWII Through Cold War 1941 – 1991

TOT · FO · MASSED FIRES

WWII — From Kasserine to the Rhine

Time on Target · Forward Observers

Forward Observers

Howitzer · Standard

American artillery in WWII perfected Time on Target — coordinating multiple batteries to land rounds simultaneously on a single target with devastating effect. Forward observers embedded with infantry called fire missions from the front line. At Bastogne, artillerymen fired over open sights at advancing German armor when they ran out of HE and switched to white phosphorus. The American artillery system — FO to FDC to guns — was the most responsive in the world. The Germans feared American artillery above all other weapons. Read more

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Nuclear Artillery

Atomic Cannon · Davy Crockett · Lance

Atomic Annie · 280mm

Crockett · Tactical Nuke

Missile · 1972–1992

During the Cold War, Field Artillery owned tactical nuclear weapons — from the M65 Atomic Cannon ("Atomic Annie") that could fire a nuclear shell 20 miles, to the Davy Crockett recoilless rifle that put a nuclear warhead in the hands of a platoon, to the Lance missile that could deliver a nuclear strike 75 miles into a Soviet advance. These weapons were the NATO deterrent against Soviet armored superiority in Europe. The idea of nuclear artillery seems insane now. At the time, it was doctrine. Read more

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Desert Storm — MLRS

"Steel Rain" Earns Its Name

Multiple Launch Rocket

M109A6 · 155mm

Cluster Munitions

MOST FEARED WEAPON

In Desert Storm, the MLRS earned the name "Steel Rain" from Iraqi soldiers who surrendered specifically because of it. A single MLRS battery could saturate a grid square with DPICM submunitions in seconds. Iraqi prisoners said MLRS was the most terrifying weapon they faced. Combined with Paladin 155mm howitzers and ATACMS missiles, American artillery in Desert Storm achieved fire superiority so complete that Iraqi artillery was suppressed before it could effectively engage. Read more

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Modern Fires — Precision & Range 2001 – Present

LRPF · PRECISION STRIKE

HIMARS & Precision Fires

Long Range Precision — Ukraine Proven

High Mobility Rocket

GPS-Guided Rockets

NEXT GEN · 500km+

HIMARS changed the conversation about fires. A single truck-mounted launcher firing GPS-guided rockets with pinpoint accuracy at ranges beyond 300 kilometers. In Ukraine, HIMARS destroyed Russian ammunition depots, command posts, and logistics nodes that changed the trajectory of the war. The Precision Strike Missile extends range beyond 500 kilometers. Long Range Precision Fires is the Army's number one modernization priority — because the lesson of every war since 2014 is that the side with longer-range, more accurate fires wins. Read more

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Fires Brigades & Division Artillery

DIVARTY Restored · Fires BDEs

Division Artillery

Brigades · Corps Level

The Army restored Division Artillery headquarters in 2014 after lessons learned showed that fires coordination at the division level had atrophied since the GWOT's focus on counterinsurgency. DIVARTY returned the division commander's organic fires coordination capability. Corps-level Fires Brigades provide MLRS and HIMARS at echelon. From M777 towed howitzers in every BCT to HIMARS batteries delivering deep fires, the Field Artillery structure is built around one principle: the ability to mass fires faster than the enemy can react. Read more

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Fort Sill & The Redleg Tradition

Home of the Fires Center of Excellence

Fires Center of Excellence

FORWARD OBSERVER

Fort Sill, Oklahoma has been the home of American artillery since 1869. The Fires Center of Excellence trains every artilleryman and forward observer in the Army. "Redleg" comes from the scarlet trouser stripe that artillery soldiers wore in the Civil War — the color that distinguished them on the battlefield and made them targets. The 13F Forward Observer remains the most dangerous FA MOS — the soldier who goes with the infantry, sees the enemy first, and calls the fire that kills them. Read more

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249

Years of Service

#1

Casualty Producer

LRPF

#1 Modernization Priority

King

Of Battle