Furthermore, it hopes to use the example of counterfire to change joint force attitudes towards risk acceptance as the military looks toward more integrated multi-domain/ all-domain activities in a highly dynamic and lethal environment with strategic implications. Given that context, this article seeks to create a broader understanding of the enduring importance of responsive counterfire for ground forces on today's battlefield. The decision to engage with counterfire was not an endorsement of the flippant 'big sky, little bullet' theory that he had often heard from lazy peers as a young artillery officer, but was a carefully considered approach, based on decades of operational experience, familiarity with existing systemic limitations, empirical data from exercises, and an awareness of the current threat that should rightfully change our attitudes toward risk acceptance. The DIVARTY commander not only acknowledged the risk he and the division were taking, but how they intended to mitigate it in a concerted effort to buy down risk to the joint force, and not just the Army. However, as the commander continued speaking, it became clear that not only had he 'gotten the message' of the past week, but that his perspective and understanding of risk, was perhaps deeper than many of his contemporaries on either side of the Army/Air Force service divide. Did the DIVARTY commander understand that the air coordination authority might rescind his trust in the Division's Air Support Operations Center (ASOC) as an air control element of the theater air control system and no longer delegate the division airspace at all? The Colonel's approach had the potential to 'go sideways' very quickly for the Army, with repercussions outside of just the division. Their cumulative years of experience in working closely with the Air Force told them, that if air control measures were violated and the JFACC started losing valuable crews and costly aircraft due to friendly ground fire, there'd be hell to pay. "I just don't know any other way to do it dynamically, and still get it done in time to meet the target selection standards… We either do this, or counterfire is dead as a tactic…It's either shoot with some risk or don't shoot at all…Otherwise, we're just pounding dirt, wasting ammunition and exposing ourselves".Īt first, there was concern by some of the Lieutenant Colonels on the line that the DIVARTY commander may have missed the point of the last week entirely. Specifically, how to address timely and effective counterfire, in a way that balanced the risk to aircraft with the risk to ground forces and their mission. Despite it all, there were still some lingering dilemmas that remained. Much of the previous week's instruction and discussion with the DIVARTY commander's team on joint air operations had centered on the challenges of airspace management in large-scale combat operations and the role of the air coordination authority. Two-thousand miles away, on the other end of the line, three Army Lieutenant Colonels, who for the past week had been advising him and his staff on the efficient and safe use of airspace within a division area of operations, sat transfixed by the bluntness of the comment. "I'm going to fire it…even if it violates an air coordination area," the Division Artillery Commander stated flatly as he stared through the expanse of the secure video-teleconference system. Previous tactical assignments include Battalion Operations Officer and Executive Officer, 3 rd Battalion, 16 th Field Artillery Regiment, and G5 Fires Planner, 1 st Cavalry Division. His most recent operational assignment was as the Deputy Commanding Officer of the 19 th Battlefield Coordination Detachment in Ramstein, Germany where he served from 2016-2020. His civil schooling includes a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Political Science from Michigan State University and an MBA from Eastern Michigan University. He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College. He is a contributing member of NATO’s Integrated Capabilities Group on Indirect Fire. Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Arrol is currently the Commandant of the US Army Joint Support Team, at Hurlburt Field, FL.
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