Field Manual FM 3-09 Fire Support and Field Artillery Operations April 2020

Book excerpt: This US Army publication, Field Manual FM 3-09 Fire Support and Field Artillery Operations April 2020, is the Army's capstone manual for fire support and field artillery operations. It provides principles and functions for fire support elements (FSEs) and field artillery (FA) units conducting large-scale ground combat operations as a part of unified land operations (ULO) in contested multi-domain environments. It establishes the basis for understanding fire support (FS) and field artillery (FA) as critical components of the Fires Warfighting Function tasks. FM 3-09 establishes for the Artilleryman the core competencies, functions, characteristics, and principles of FS and FA.The principal audience for FM 3-09 is all commanders and their staffs. This publication is intended to provide guidance for echelons above brigade for the planning, preparing, execution, and assessment of FS and the employment of FA in large-scale ground combat operations. Trainers and educators throughout the Army will also use this manual. This manual should be studied by those members of the combined arms team or other services who are responsible for the delivery of fires in support of ground combat operations. The aim of this publication is to establish the functions and principles of fire support planning, coordination, execution, and assessment and to describe the FS system in terms of its major components, functions, and required products. This publication describes the FS system as a complete entity and gives equal treatment to all of the diverse assets and capabilities that are designated as elements of the fire support system. The theme of this publication is that the successful delivery of fires depends on the rapid and continuous integration and synchronization of all forms of FS assets with all elements of combat power, and across all domains for one purpose. This is to place the correct types and volume of fire at the right time and on the right targets, across all domains to ensure the success of the supported maneuver commander's concept of operations.This publication provides the foundation for the development of subordinate FS and FA doctrine, force design, materiel acquisition, professional education, and individual and unit training. Fire support and field artillery techniques manuals go into further detail to explain specific duties for those individuals who actually work within the FS system.