IChristie
Posts: 673
Joined: 3/26/2002
From: Ottawa, Canada
Status: offline
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Rob,
I actually know something about this one.
first of all any arty move would be a full battery move to a whole new position, usually at least 2km away. I was in a towed 105 regt but the doctrine is actually pretty similar. How often the battery's move probably depends on a lot of things including: how fluid the situation is, whether they have had a chance to prepare the position (giving them protection against CB fire), and whether there are actually new positions available. The last one is probably a big concern. Every officer in an arty battery (FOO's included) is actually responsible for looking for potential gun positions.
Frankly though, with the density of units expected in this type of conflict it is unlikely that gun positions would be allocated at lower than div or even corps level. Arty CO's (at the Bde HQ) would likely get a list of possible gun positions, but they would almost certainly have to get permission from the Commander Div Arty to move their guns. In general, close support batteries do not move unless their is another battery available to cover their supported arm.
An arty battery is actually a pretty sizeable organization, not because of the guns but because of the other vehicles, principally ammo trucks. The wagon lines are supposed to be 600m from the gun line and guns are to be no closer than 50m apart (and usually more like 100 to 150 for 109's). Thus making a battery position a minimum of half grid square and more like a full grid square in a lot of cases.
Moving to a new location is not a simple exercise either since the all the ready ammo has to be packed and the gun prepared to move. Even 109's can't just drive off a position. They have spades that have to be raised and the gun has to be latched (I think). Cam nets have to be taken down and stowed etc.
New positions have to be surveyed in advance - which if you're good takes at least 30 minutes. The gun platforms are designated and surveyed and once the guns arrive they have to be oriented. With the advent of GPS the survey is probably easier but the guns still have to be put on common orientation if you want to have any idea where the first round is going to go. Ultimately the battery survey should be upgraded to regt then div and eventually theatre. At that point you would expect that every gun available will hit the same spot when given a common target. Without common grid the FOO has to manually correct each battery's fall of shot.
All in all, I doubt that batteries could move more often than once an hour and that rate could not be sustained for more than a few moves or the gunners would be exhausted and you'd have ammo and other kit strewn over half the battlefield with the BSM madly driving around trying to pick it up. Basically, if the guns are moving, they're not doing their job...
Excluding road move time a good battery could probably get out of one position in about 10 minutes and into another in about 15 (with rounds on the ground). There are procedures for deploying from line of march and firing from improvised positions, but that is only likely to happen in case of emergency.
I'm not sure what the doctrine would have been, but I suspect that close support arty (the reg'ts assigned to the mnvr bdes') would not have practiced shoot and scoot. First of all because their first responsibility is to be available to their supported arm and second because they would assume that most CB assets would be directed at bigger fish (the heavies and the MLRS).
Besides those big tin cans those 109 guys drive around in have to be good for something... right?
_____________________________
Iain Christie
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"If patience is a virtue then persistence is it's part.
It's better to light a candle than stand and curse the dark"
- James Keelaghan
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