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Multiple Launch Rocket System unit provides Operation
Iraqi Freedom fires when nothing else can
New A1s take 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery, to
the front lines of Iraqi combat
By Fred W. Baker III
FORT SILL, Okla. (Oct. 31, 2003) -- A handful of field
artillery crew chiefs, platoon sergeants, first
sergeants and battery commanders file into the
interview room.
In minutes, the room fills with banter about exactly
who was the top firing crew in Iraq.
"We can take this outside," one track chief finally
says. Laughter erupts.
It's easy to laugh now. They're home.
    Only seven months ago, the 2nd Battalion, 4th Field
Artillery, Multiple Launch Rocket System, unit was
road-wheel-deep in Iraqi sand, at times the lead
element in the march on Baghdad, providing deep fires
in support of maneuver forces in the theater.As the
first Army MLRS battalion with a full complement of
the newly fielded M270A1 rocket launchers, the unit
was deployed in methods that surprised even the
maneuver commanders there, making history for the unit
and the A1s.March 20, the unit was the first ground
forces component in theater to fire in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. For the first time in combat,
it fired the Army Tactical Missile System Quick
Reaction Unitary missile, capable of striking targets
300 kilometers away with its Global Positioning System
guidance.It fired an initial volley of 63 missiles
deep into Iraq. Forty days later -- the crews still
without showers or a hot meal -- the unit had fired
240 ATACMS -- 10 times more missiles than all the MLRS
units in Desert Storm fired combined, according to
unclassified post-conflict reports. That, added to the
168 M-26 tactical rockets fired during the operation,
made 2nd-4th FA the go-to unit for "deep attack" fires
during OIF.Its targets were the highest on the hit
list for Central Command forces and included the
Ba'ath Party and Fedayeen Saddam Headquarters and a
dozen other political hotspots the first day of OIF,
according to the reports.
A week into the strike, a duststorm shut down Army and
Air Force aviation fires, and the 2nd-4th FA became
the only "all-weather" deep strike capability in the
operations area. In the middle of a blinding
sandstorm, in two days 50 missiles were fired,
allowing the Coalition Forces Land Component Command
to maintain its operational tempo in the battle,
according to the reports.
The unit was so effective that, at one point in the
battle, V Corps Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Daniel Hahn
told 214th Field Artillery Brigade Commander Col. Jim
Boozer, "I cannot send any more fire missions. Due to
the effectiveness of your unit's (2nd-4th FA) fires,
there are no targets left," according to then 2nd-4th
FA commander Lt. Col. Billy Sprayberry.
All from a field artillery battalion that had not seen
the inside their new A1s before combat, other than
during a 10-day fielding exercise in November 2002.
Too close for comfort
"I've been in 20 years, and this is the first time
I've been to war. I'll never forget it," said 1st Sgt.
Chris Bryan, A Battery first sergeant.
Bryan said the battle started pretty much like he
expected, but once the rockets started going down
range, the rules changed.
"We started off like we thought we were going to do
because we were shooting deep targets (Basrah,
Nasiriyah). We were really prepping the battlefield.
But once we got to Karbala Gap ... then we started
switching roles and shooting primarily missiles.
"We knew going over that we were going to be on a deep
attack mission; however, I personally didn't realize
that when they said 'deep,' they meant farther than
doctrinally (typical)," Bryan said. "What they meant
by 'deep' put us at the forward line of troops and
beyond to reach our maximum range. I think the
battlefield for this operation was stretched much
farther than in the past."
Capt. Joel Houk, A Battery commander, said part of his
battery came dangerously close to a potentially deadly
firefight during one mission that took them across the
FLOT.
"There was an instance after we went through the
Karbala Gap that I came up on a tank and a Bradley
sitting in the middle of the road trying to wave me
off to the side," said Houk. "I was leading the
battery to a position area. I got out and talked to
one of them.
"He said, 'You need to go this way. That's where the
trains are.'
"'I'm not part of your trains,' I said.
"'Oh well, be advised, the brigade combat team is
refueling; there's nobody (friendly) in front of us,'
he said.”
"And I still had 10 (kilometers) to go," Houk said.
Houk took his battery past the forward element,
unprotected and in enemy territory, to meet his time
of fire, he said. About 30 minutes later, the BCT
finally rolled past the unit. Less than one kilometer
up the road, the BCT was attacked, Houk said. It took
two hours to overcome the enemy. With virtually no
protection from enemy infantry forces, the 2nd-4th FA
battery would have been a sitting duck had their
firing points been one kilometer further into the
battlefield, he said.
"I'm glad I didn't go over that ridge," said Houk.
First Sgt. Michael Butcher, B Battery first sergeant,
was a launcher chief in Desert Storm. He said there
they fired mostly raid missions. OIF was totally
different, he said.
"(Field Manual) 6-60 was out the window," he said of
the Army's guidelines for MLRS unit positioning on the
modern battlefield. "I never thought we would be
following that close or leading them (maneuver
forces). We were going by vehicles that were destroyed
by the maneuver force. They were still on fire and
exploding as we're pulling past them. Hopefully, they
will take a lot from this and rewrite doctrine."
Staff Sgt. Donald Herrick, track chief for Alpha 0-2,
jokes that his crew's claim to fame is that they ate
the most Meals Ready to Eat. He said being that close
to the battle didn't frighten him as much as it made
him more alert.
"It made me feel like I should keep my eyes open,"
Herrick said. "I wouldn't say scared. No, not scared.
(We) just kept our eyes open — watching everybody
else's back. (We) just kept our eyes on our little
zone of the war."
Herrick said his A1 stalled next to two burning T-72
tanks.
"You could feel the heat just ebbing off the burning
vehicles," he said. "(There were) several (enemy)
bodies all over the place — burning, abandoned
vehicles.
"We were the big kid on the block, and we obviously
had the bigger bat," he said.
The new A1s
The battalion received the new A1s in November 2002.
Then, the Army said they were simply "ramping up" the
delivery pace, but two months later the launchers were
on a ship to Kuwait.
The next time the Soldiers saw their new A1s was when
they were downloading them in Kuwait.
Within hours of receiving their new equipment there,
they were on point, ready to fire.
"We got our bullets, and we were sitting on points at
Camp Virginia (Kuwait)," said Houk.
The 2nd-4th FA Soldiers had nothing but praise for the
new systems, although some admit to being a little
nervous about deploying to war with them with only 10
days' certification training.
The 2nd-4th FA is only the fourth battalion Army-wide
to receive a full complement of 18 A1s, with an
additional A1 designated as an operational "floater."
The A1 is an upgrade of the current rocket launcher
and can move and shoot six times faster than its
predecessor.
While the new A1 looks like the older M270 on the
outside, contractor Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire
Control, Dallas, reworked its internal components,
building it faster and stronger and more flexible in
the types of munitions it can fire.
An improved fire-control system allows the fire
mission processing to be faster and more accurate, and
an improved launcher mechanical system greatly speeds
the time it takes for a launcher to "lay" on its
target, fire and get away from the firing point. It
also has an on-board Global Positioning System, ground
meteorological station and an improved engine and
greater fuel capacity.
The most noticeable improvements for its crew come in
two areas, the speed of the launcher loader module and
the new fire control panel.
The LLM is the large box-like "cage" on the back of
the M270's body that carries the rockets or missiles.
The older systems take 93 seconds for the LLM cage to
elevate and traverse from a "stow" position to lock on
the target in a "fire" position. That time has been
cut to 16 seconds. Because the M270 is the most
vulnerable on the battlefield while it is exposed on
the firing point, this cut in time could save lives on
the battlefield.
The new FCP operates more like a newer computer. Using
the older system, soldiers memorize entry numbers and
wait for the computer to catch up.
Sgt. 1st Class Rex Sherman, B Battery, 1st Firing
Platoon, a Desert Storm veteran, described the move to
A1s as upgrading "from a Model-T to a Cadillac" in
terms of performance and speed. He especially liked
the speed-to-stow position after firing because the
launcher did not have to stay on its firing point too
long.
"In Desert Storm, we were exposed way too long,"
Sherman said.
Sgt. 1st Class David Lukasik, A Battery, 2nd Firing
Platoon, also a Desert Storm veteran, agreed.
"This thing gets a fire mission, shoots it, and you're
gone. Much better," he said.
Sprayberry credits Lukasik for developing a method of
loading two different types of munitions in the same
launcher at the same time — a function that was not
100 percent reliable, Sprayberry said, but allowed the
unit to be more flexible.
"I have chills just thinking about it. Not only were
they good from a mechanical perspective and from a
firing perspective, but they had awesome effects on
targets," said Bryan. "The reason we were able to do
it was because of the new launchers. Those new
launchers led our unit."
Bryan described the older version as more
maintenance-intensive. "This one just ran. We did not
have problems with our launchers like we did with the
older version. We made every mission," he said.
The speed and dependability was essential to managing
the massive number of fire missions coming from higher
echelons, Houk said.
"We got a lot of fire plans down from Central Command
and V Corps that were a lot of missiles at one time,
and then, very quickly, turning around and firing a
lot more missiles within a half an hour," said Houk.
"The speed that these launchers allowed us to fire,
reload and get back into position is what allowed us
to fire the quantity of missiles they were asking of
us.
"Being one of only two MLRS units in the V Corps
Artillery on the ground, they relied on us a lot. Not
just for deep attacks, but also things close up. There
were times when we had to move backwards to reach a
target because it was within our minimum range," Houk
said.
"I think there were some very forward-thinking people
at the top who saw what we could do and gave us the
missions that stretched us to our limits, and the
systems and the personnel proved worthy of their
confidence," he said.
History, hygiene
For 40 days the Soldiers of 2nd-4th FA marched from
Kuwait to Tikrit and back again, firing rockets and
missiles at targets across Iraq. Before it was said
and done, the unit put 2,000 kilometers — more than
1,200 miles — on their A1s, said Sprayberry.
No showers, no hot meals, they said. Huge boxes built
on top of the launchers carried 20 cases of MREs, 40
cases of water and the one-half ton of supplies they
needed. Everything else needed was acquired through
"field expediency" on a fast-moving battlefield where
support systems were nonexistent. Ammunition assets
were stretched to the max. Rockets and missiles were
traded from other non-firing MLRS units.
"I think once you've been in any kind of combat
situation, you initially realize that there is no book
answer. There is no 'by regulation' answer. You have
to get the job done," said Herrick. "You have to
accomplish the mission and whatever you've got to do —
even if that means draining oil out of a Mercedes to
get engine oil for your track — you're going to get
the mission done."
Temperatures inside the cabs of the tracks reached 158
degrees.
Baby wipes were used for personnel hygiene. Water was
strictly for drinking.
It was 31 days before they could wash their clothes.
To say they stunk is an understatement.
"It was actually to the point that you got so used to
your own stench that you couldn't tell it," said track
chief Staff Sgt. Gerald Smith.
The duststorms were blinding, the field artillery
Soldiers said. The launchers could not find their hide
areas without the aid of its GPS, said Smith.
"There's no describing it. At three o'clock in the
afternoon, it was like midnight," he said. "You had to
maintain one hand on the launcher to not lose your
bearing."
Smith's gunner once got out of the launcher to check
the connections on the back of the pods, and an hour
and a half later he was found wandering into the
battery operations area.
Convoying through the duststorms was the worst.
"I was wearing goggles, three scarves, a gator-neck
and anything I could to cover my face ... and I was
still eating dirt through all of that. And it's 130
degrees outside," said Smith.
Even with all of the personal hardships, Smith said he
wouldn't have missed the opportunity to be part of
history his unit wrote in the sands of Iraq.
"I didn't want a 20-year career not being able to say
I did something for my country other than coming to
work 9-to-5 wearing BDUs," said Smith. "I am proud
that I can actually stand up and hold my head high and
say that I have done something for my country.
"My son is going to be older, and (one day) in high
school and he's going to be studying about what his
father and his father's coworkers did. I am
exceptionally proud," Smith said.
The proof
Back at home now, the war stories of the 2nd-4th FA's
accomplishments in OIF will echo the through battalion
headquarters' halls, be heard in the motor pools,
laughed about over beers and good-naturedly argued
about in the field exercises — for years to come. Each
Soldier remembers the moments — most scared, proudest,
happiest, etc.
"One (3ID) unit was on the verge of being overrun.
They were caught in the open. And that was that for
them. And we had a battalion, across-the-board strike,
and (the enemy's) 70 vehicles turned into three that
were running away. That was the proudest moment for
me," said Herrick.
Smith remembers his first big meal when the unit got
back to Camp Victory, Kuwait. The Soldiers didn't even
shower first. They just parked their vehicles and
headed straight for the chow hall.
"It was like eating at a five-star restaurant.
Everybody was looking at us like we hadn't eaten
before," Smith said.
And even the battalion commander admits to being a bit
scared at times.
"If you show me three people in a combat zone with no
fear, I will show you three liars," Sprayberry said.
"During the occupation of the Baghdad International
Airport, the battalion was spread out over a large
area in three separate locations. I moved with the
first element, in night-vision goggles for 12 hours.
The enemy was being engaged by our own maneuver force
right in front of us — enemy air defense artillery was
being fired the entire night. There were downed enemy
vehicles still on fire all along the route and dead
enemy soldiers along the route, all adding to the
feeling in the mind. Then we lost contact with two of
our fuel trucks."
The trucks were found and no one was hurt, but the
incident was nerve-wracking for a while, he said.
To some, though, their part in the war was simply
another training ground — a chance to stretch and grow
as Soldiers and as a unit. The younger Soldiers of OIF
will take their experiences into the battlefields of
tomorrow.
The last to walk out of the interview room, gunner
Sgt. Kahlia Patton, pulls a commander's coin from his
pocket. It's a one-star coin given to him on behalf of
Brig. Gen. Richard P. Formica, III Corps Artillery
commanding general.
His launcher was one of 16 on one line, and three
others about 10 kilometers southwest, that fired the
first volley of missiles, the first strike of the
ground war against Iraq.
His track, Bravo 1-1, fired the first unitary missile,
and he's got the proof, he said, showing the coin.
Patton said he let his chief fire it. "No big deal,"
he said.