The Field Artillery

Artillery has been used in two main ways. Its first and greatest use has been to accompany the infantry, or foot soldiers, in the field of battle. This type of artillery is called field artillery. The Field Artillery is one of the most important branches of the United States Army (or any other army). The job of the field artillery is to support the infantry or other troops in the field. One way this is done is by knocking out fortified enemy positions. Another way is by a barrage. Suppose the infantry wants to work in some exposed place.

The artillery keeps up a steady fire of shells that fall just beyond this place. The enemy cannot move through the line where the shells are falling, so they cannot attack the working troops. When its own troops want to attack, the field artillery supports them by artillery preparation. They bombard the place to be attacked, sometimes for several hours, to drive the enemy out of it. Then their own troops can move in. The basic field artillery group is the battery. A battery is composed of at least four artillery pieces and the soldiers necessary to handle them.

These artillerymen work together in perfect teamwork. They must be trained to move their guns quickly, set them up and get them ready for firing. When the guns are ready to be fired, each artilleryman has his special job. Some are far ahead of the lines where they can observe the target and direct the aiming of the gun. These observers also tell the gun crews how close the shells are falling on the target. In modern warfare, some of the observers fly in light planes over the target to direct the fire from the guns.

Other artillerymen work in the fire-direction center. Here they receive all information about the target-how far away it is, what direction it lies in, and how close the shells are falling. Radar is also used to locate a target. Much of the target information is now fed into a machine that automatically figures out how the gun should be fired. These machines can almost think, and they give highly crews. The gun crews take care of loading, firing and unloading the guns. Even the loading, firing and unloading are often done automatically. The gun crews just see that everything is in perfect working order. Modern field artillery pieces can be moved very quickly from one place to another. Tanks are really a form of artillery that can go anywhere at any time. Other large guns are mounted on vehicles that are similar to tanks. These vehicles are called mobile gun carriers. Other and larger guns are pulled by tractors. The largest artillery pieces are mounted on railroad flatcars.