ARRC JOURNAL
ENABLING NATO SURFACE-TO-
SURFACE DEEP FIRES IN HIGH
INTENSITY WARFIGHTING
Developing New Synergies at Corps and Theatre level
Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Iddon, British Army
Exercise DYNAMIC FRONT 2018 (DF18) was an exceptional exercise for the concept
development and experimentation (CD&E) of new ideas and confirming existing
fires strategies.
The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
(ARRC) Joint Fires and Influence Branch
(JFIB), along with additional support
personnel from within the headquarters,
served as the primary training audience
and were well exercised by US Army
Europe’s (USAREUR), 7th Army Training
Command. Also participating in the
exercise in support of the ARRC and
placed under its command were the
experimental UK Corps Air Defence Cell
(CADC), the 138th (US) Field Artillery
“In time of war, a
commander always
demands more
artillery than he is
allocated and, sadly,
in times of peace the
value of artillery and
the lessons learned
through history
are nearly always
forgotten.” 1
Brigade (FAB) and the 1st (US) Air
Cavalry Brigade (ACB)).
The exercise allowed the ARRC to
conduct a limited comparison between
UK and US Force Field Artillery
Headquarters (FFAHQ), experience the
intricacies of commanding corps troops,
work with theatre special operations
forces (SOF) and USAREUR’s Theatre
Surface Fires Command (TSFC), and
integrate Grey Eagle Unmanned Aerial
Systems operators into the headquarters,
who operated in direct support of the
ARRC via the 1st ACB.
The ARRC’s JFIB learned several
valuable lessons during DF18. The
exercise also sparked considerable
debate between members of the JFIB’s
joint fires staff. This debate led, in
part, to: A review of and subsequent
changes to the existing fires elements
of the Command and Control Technical
Arrangement (C2TA – an arrangement
that
identifies
relationships
and
responsibilities founded on affiliations for
training purposes only); a discussion on
the role of the TSFC and how the ARRC
interacts with it; and, most importantly, it
led the joint fires staff to consider how the
ARRC can replicate the functionality and
various attributes and assets associated
with a US corps-level FAB.
1 J.B.A. Bailey, Field Artillery and Firepower (Oxford: Routledge, 1989).
2 Reference: European Theatre Surface Fires Command Operational and Organisational Concept Paper - Draft V3
10
ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS
Aim
This short essay is not designed as a
guide on how to fight the corps deep
battle. Rather, it is focussed on examining
the capabilities required of a scalable
multinational (MN) FFAHQ designed to
support the ARRC in all three of its roles
as either a joint task force (JTF), a land
component command (LCC) or a corps
headquarters. Additionally, this essay
will discuss Surface-to-Surface (S2S)
fires and associated assets required
to establish a multinational FAB (MN
FAB), capable of delivering S2S fires in
high intensity warfighting against a peer
enemy. Finally, this essay will provide an
overview of USAREUR’s TSFC concept
and insight into the existing C2TA.
TSFC Overview 2
The 19th (US) Battlefield Coordination
Detachment (BCD) designed the TSFC
concept in order to fill the gap in NATO’s
theatre fires capability, which resides
squarely at LCC level. The purpose of
the TSFC is to deter aggressors within
the European Theatre of Operations,
provide protection for currently deployed
NATO enhanced Forward Presence
(eFP) battlegroups and, during hostilities,
counter any adversary overmatch in
S2S fires assets and command and