Command and Control of the American Fire Support System

The purpose of this study is to determine the most appropriate command and control system for the U.S. Army fire support system. Specifically, it addresses the question of how tactical fire direction should be controlled in the direct support field artillery battalion. The major problem concerning today's field artillery is the coordination of indirect assets with the commander's scheme of maneuver and direct fire systems. To examine the coordination problem, this study compares the tactical command and control systems of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, the present U.S. TACFIRE system and the future American system, the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS). The study makes three main conclusions. First, future planned automation provides a means of greatly enhancing the capabilities of fire support assets. Second, the fire support system is improved if the fire support officer controls fires instead of the fire direction officer. Finally, there needs to be a philosophical change within the U.S. fire support community. The final conclusion refers to the practice of placing the most experienced personnel near the guns rather than with the maneuver units which is the practice of both the Soviets and British.