Field Artillery, General
Commands and leads field artillery units executing fires missions in support of ground combat operations. Plans and integrates indirect fires from howitzers and rocket systems with maneuver operations.
“Command the Army's most powerful indirect fire systems. Field Artillery officers deliver fires that shape the battlefield from distance, with technical precision and tactical impact.”
Field Artillery officers live in a world of GRIDs, call for fire, fire missions, and the continuous tension between fires integration and maneuver deconfliction. Your first years will involve learning the fire direction process deeply enough to supervise it — AFATDS, AFATDS troubleshooting, AFATDS freezing at the worst moment. Battery command is genuinely the best part of the FA career for most officers — you own a capability that maneuver commanders actually need and your soldiers are doing skilled, demanding technical work. The staff years as a fires officer involve writing OPORD fire support annexes and sitting in targeting meetings. The FA branch has watched the rocket artillery renaissance with satisfaction as HIMARS became the most consequential ground system in Ukraine. The civilian market for FA officers is less direct than engineer or medical — project management, leadership development, and operations management are the primary translation lanes.
MOS Intel
- 1Master the fires planning process. The officers who can rapidly develop and execute fire plans under pressure are the ones who succeed and get the best assignments.
- 2Push for a fire support officer (FSO) assignment with a maneuver battalion. The experience of integrating fires with ground operations is career-defining.
- 3The targeting and planning skills transfer to corporate strategy, operations management, and defense consulting. Articulate them in civilian terms.
Field artillery officer is a branch that operates in the shadow of infantry and armor but provides some of the most lethal capabilities on the battlefield. What the recruiter won't tell you: field artillery is a branch that many officers don't choose first but end up loving. The technical challenge of coordinating fires — multiple weapon systems, joint assets, timing, and effects — is genuinely intellectually stimulating. The downside: garrison artillery can feel like an endless cycle of gunnery certifications and maintenance, and the branch has an identity crisis in an era where close air support and precision munitions compete with traditional artillery. The fire support officer role (embedded with infantry or armor) is where most FA officers find the most fulfillment. The civilian translation requires work — "I coordinated lethal fires" doesn't land in a job interview. Translate it to planning, coordination, and decision-making under time pressure.
Execute the Job — By Rank
How you actually run this job at each rank — what you do, what you drill, which manuals you own, and what good looks like. Written for the soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, or Guardian currently in the seat. Each rank deeplinks into the full Playbook deep-dive: time-blocked schedules, unit-type variations, career decisions, and the read on the next rank.
You are the LT in a fires formation. The platoon sergeant runs the gun line; the FDC NCOs run the math; the maneuver company commander you support trusts the fires plan because you signed it. Your job is to be technically right on the first round and lead the platoon while you learn it.
You came out of FA BOLC at Fort Sill — roughly 19 weeks under the 428th Field Artillery Brigade and the Fires Center of Excellence — with the gunnery math, the call-for-fire sequence, the AFATDS / fire-direction baseline, and the targeting-cycle vocabulary (D3A — Decide, Detect, Deliver, Assess). Your first KD is one of three seats: Fire Direction Officer (FDO) inside the battery FDC, owning the technical fire-control math that translates the FO's call into firing data the gun crews execute; Platoon Leader on a cannon gun platoon (4-8 M777 / M119 / M109A6 / M109A7 PIM howitzer crews depending on BCT type), a HIMARS / M270A2 rocket launcher platoon (in 17th FA Brigade JBLM, 18th FA Brigade Fort Liberty — renamed from Fort Bragg in 2023 — 41st FA Brigade Germany, or 75th FA Brigade Fort Sill), or a target acquisition / radar PL slot (AN/TPQ-36, -37, -50, -53 fleet); or, after JFO certification, a Fire Support Officer (FSO) attached to a maneuver company or battalion translating the supported commander's intent into a brigade-deliverable fires plan. You write the platoon's training, you sign the safety-T and the surface danger zone, you back-brief the BC and the supported company commander, and you spend more time than you expected on AFATDS database hygiene, NCOER endorsements, and DTS. Company XO is the LT capstone — supply hand-receipt, dispatch, training calendar — the seat that proves you can execute a battery's logistical fight before FACCC.
- 01Run a complete fire mission cycle as FDO — receive the call for fire, compute and validate firing data on the BCS reconciled against the digital fire control solution, validate the safety-T and SDZ, push data to the guns — to the TC 3-09.81 / TC 3-09.8 / ATP 3-09.50 standard, with no digit errors.
- 02Plan and brief a platoon-level OPORD using METT-TC — fires synch matrix or gun-line scheme of fire, route plan, comm plan, sustainment plan, casualty plan — that the BC and the maneuver company commander you support do not have to rewrite.
- 03Hold and apply JFO (Joint Fires Observer) certification at the FSO level — terminal guidance and laser-spot handoff for rotary CAS in coordination with a JTAC, FSCM application (FSCL, CFL, NFA, RFA), risk-estimate distance for danger-close missions per ATP 3-09.32.
- 04Operate AFATDS / JADOCS / JBC-P at the system-administrator level — target list management, FSCM build and edit, mission processing, database recovery — well enough to teach the section without paging the 131A targeting warrant.
- 05Translate the supported commander's intent into an Annex D (Fires) the BCT FSO can scrub — target nominations, attack guidance matrix, ammunition allocation across HE / smoke / illum / FASCAM / precision (M982 Excalibur, GMLRS variants where supported), prioritization triggers.
- 06Counsel and develop a senior NCO bench — defending the section chief / FDC chief / FSE NCO's read at the BC level — without confusing being aligned with the platoon sergeant with being captive to him.
- —ADP 3-09 — Fires; FM 3-09 — Field Artillery Operations.
- —ATP 3-09 — Fires; ATP 3-09.50 — The Field Artillery Cannon Battery; ATP 3-09.60 — MLRS and HIMARS Operations.
- —ATP 3-09.30 — Observed Fires; ATP 3-09.32 — J-Fires Observer / Fire Support for the BCT.
- —TC 3-09.81 — Field Artillery Manual Cannon Gunnery; TC 3-09.8 — Field Artillery Gunnery.
- —ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership and the Profession; AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy; AR 600-100 — Army Profession and Leadership Policy.
- —AR 623-3 + DA PAM 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System (you write your first OERs and rate enlisted NCOERs); DA PAM 600-3 — Officer Professional Development and Career Management.
- —FA BOLC complete (Fort Sill, ~19 weeks under 428th FA Brigade); JFO certification on the record before second KD if the FSO seat is on the table.
- —FDO certification under the battery commander and the battalion fire direction officer — the technical-competence credential the BN CDR remembers.
- —O-1 to O-2 automatic at ~18 months under DOPMA / AR 600-8-29; O-2 to O-3 board at ~4 years commissioned — pull the current HRC promotion board release for the specific FY rate, do not assume.
- —ACFT pass at or above the BN officer aggregate; an O-1/O-2 OER with a fitness-failure flag in a small branch is a visible read at branch slating.
- —OER profile clean across the LT KD cycle — FDO / PL / FSO senior-rater narrative tied to measurable platoon outputs (first-round time, mission completion rate, ARTEP-MTP rating, sensitive-item accountability).
- —Phoning the FDO math. A digit error in deflection, quadrant, or charge puts rounds long, short, or off the SDZ — and the 15-6 investigation finds the lieutenant who signed the data.
- —Skipping the JFO packet or the observer-coded school slot. JFO is the credentialed gate that opens the FSO seat at a maneuver company; LTs who arrive at the FSO conversation without JFO get a slower KD slate.
- —Letting the platoon sergeant run the gun line without LT involvement on the technical side. The FA NCO bench respects an LT who reads TC 3-09.81 / ATP 3-09.50 / ATP 3-09.60 cover-to-cover; the LT who only reads OPORDs is the LT the section chiefs route around.
- —Bypassing the BCT FSO scrub on a fires plan to brief the supported maneuver CO directly. The BCT FSCOORD will hear about it within a week and the read travels — the FA branch is small.
- —OPSEC sloppiness — posting AFATDS screens, fire-mission audio, launcher / radar imagery, unit patches, or firing-point grids on social. Counter-fire and long-range-fires collection against US formations is real and the brigade S2 spots it.
The good 13A LT is the lieutenant the BC trusts to run an FDC seat at 0200 because the math will come back clean, and the lieutenant the supported maneuver company commander asks for by name on the next FTX because the fires plan will be staffed before the OPORD back-brief. Their JFO certification is on the record before the FSO conversation starts, their platoon's ARTEP-MTP read is in the upper half of the battalion, and the BCT FSCOORD is already naming them on the bench for the Company XO slot and FACCC slate.
You are the captain the FA branch is grading for battery command, and then the major the BCT FSCOORD and DIVARTY commander are reading at the field-grade boards. Battery command is the OER. Everything else is shaped by it.
Your captain arc compresses staff utilization, FACCC, and battery command into roughly five years. After post-LT KD you rotate onto a BN or BCT staff — assistant S-3 (AS3) or battalion S-1 / S-4 inside an FA battalion, BCT FSO as the senior captain fires planner under the BCT FSCOORD, or target acquisition officer in a radar unit — and you do that work for 18-30 months while the FACCC slate forms. FACCC (Field Artillery Captains Career Course at Fort Sill) is roughly 22 weeks under the 428th FA Brigade and the Fires Center of Excellence; it teaches brigade and division fire support planning, joint fires integration, the D3A targeting cycle, and the post-2022 long-range-precision-fires conversation that PrSM (Precision Strike Missile), the Mid-Range Capability (MRC), and LRHW / Dark Eagle have made central to the FA branch's mission set. Battery command — typically 18-24 months, slated by the BN CDR in coordination with the BCT FSCOORD and HRC — is the load-bearing OER for the rest of the FA career. The seat varies by formation: a cannon battery (6-8 M777 / M119 / M109A6 / M109A7 PIM howitzers, FDC, supply, maintenance), a HIMARS battery (a small number of launchers per TO&E, with FDC and resupply), an M270A2 MLRS battery (in 75th FA Brigade or strategic fires brigade formations), a target acquisition battery (Q-radar fleet), or HHB (headquarters and headquarters battery). The OER weight is comparable across types; the experience is materially different. CTC rotations as a battery commander at NTC, JRTC, JMRC, or JPMRC are the visibility moment senior FA officers and the BCT FSCOORD write home about. Post-command runs into senior captain billets — BN S-3 air, BCT FSCOORD junior, DIVARTY staff, JRTC / NTC fires-cell O/C/T, TRADOC instructor at Fort Sill — and into the O-4 board window at roughly 9-10 years commissioned under DOPMA / AR 600-8-29. Pull the current HRC FA O-4 board release for the actual selection rate; do not assume. Functional Area designation happens at roughly 7-8 years — FA40 Space, FA49 ORSA, FA50 Force Management, FA51 Acquisition (the long-range precision fires programs need acquisition officers with FA backgrounds), and FA57 Simulations are the most common 13A FA designations. The acquisition lane (FA51) is materially relevant given the LRPF modernization volume; program offices want captains with battery command and a working understanding of the systems coming online.
- 01Command a firing battery, HIMARS battery, MLRS battery, target acquisition battery, or HHB through a CTC rotation (NTC, JRTC, JMRC, JPMRC) — fires synch, sustainment, sensitive-item accountability, ammunition forecast, MEDEVAC posture — to a rating the O/C/T credits in the AAR.
- 02Run the brigade fire support cell as BCT FSO (senior captain) — integrate cannon, rocket, rotary CAS, fixed-wing CAS, naval gunfire when applicable, joint targeting cycle (D3A / F3EAD) — across the BCT scheme of maneuver.
- 03Plan a battalion-or-brigade-level joint fires rehearsal — ATO synchronization, sensor-to-shooter chain alignment, JTAC integration, attack guidance matrix, risk-to-force decision criteria — that the BCT commander defends at the division back-brief.
- 04Mentor a slate of LTs through FDO / PL / FSO KD and into FACCC — translating the FA branch professional development conversation (FACCC seat timing, FA40/49/50/51/57 designation math, joint-tour requirement for O-5/O-6 competitiveness) into honest career advice.
- 05Brief the BN CDR, the BC, the BCT commander, or the DIVARTY commander on fires posture in language they repeat at the next-higher echelon without rewording — capability, risk, ammunition, restrictions, target nominations.
- 06Write four-to-six OERs per cycle on rated LTs and on the senior NCO bench — bullets tied to measurable battery / battalion outputs that the senior rater defends at the FA branch slating conference.
- —ADP 3-09 — Fires; FM 3-09 — Field Artillery Operations; ATP 3-09 — Fires.
- —ATP 3-09.50 — The Field Artillery Cannon Battery; ATP 3-09.60 — MLRS and HIMARS Operations; ATP 3-09.32 — Fire Support for the Brigade Combat Team.
- —JP 3-09 — Joint Fire Support; JP 3-09.3 — Close Air Support; JP 3-60 — Joint Targeting.
- —AR 600-8-29 — Officer Promotions (active-duty); AR 623-3 + DA PAM 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System; AR 600-100 — Army Profession and Leadership Policy.
- —DA PAM 600-3 — Officer Professional Development and Career Management (FA branch chapter); the current HRC FA branch professional development bulletin and the most recent FA O-4 / battalion command board MILPER.
- —AR 350-1 — Army Training; AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy; AR 27-10 — Military Justice (you are in the room as a commander).
- —FACCC graduate (Fort Sill, ~22 weeks under 428th FA Brigade) before battery command slate competitiveness; small-group leaders are former battery commanders writing a read that travels to your branch manager.
- —Battery command OER without an AR 15-6, lost-sensitive-item, range incident, or ammo / fuze accountability finding during your tenure — the single load-bearing OER for the O-4 board read in a small branch.
- —Joint exposure documented for O-5 board competitiveness — COCOM J3 fires staff (CENTCOM, EUCOM, INDOPACOM since 2022 are all materially career-relevant), Joint Staff fires cell, or strategic fires brigade tour (17th JBLM, 18th Fort Liberty, 41st Germany, 75th Fort Sill).
- —O-3 to O-4 IPZ window roughly 9-10 years commissioned under DOPMA — pull the current HRC FA O-4 board release for the FY-specific selection rate. BTZ select at IZ-1 is the visibly-fast-track signal; AZ pickups are the second-chance lane.
- —Functional Area designation at ~7-8 years (FA40, FA49, FA50, FA51, FA57 most common for 13A) — the FA branch professional development bulletin governs the timing and the off-ramp.
- —Coasting through FACCC. The course is small-group-led by former battery commanders; the read on your tactical depth, your OPORD discipline, and your peer behavior is documented and propagates back to FA branch.
- —Phoning the staff tour. The AS3 / S-4 / BCT FSO read of your work product is the input the BCT FSCOORD uses to decide whether you get battery-command-slated; LTs who arrived strong and then drift on staff are the captains who lose the slot.
- —Losing the battery command OER on a recoverable problem. An AR 15-6 finding for a preventable range mishap, a missing sensitive item, an ammo or fuze accountability gap, a SHARP / EO indicator the chain missed — terminal for the O-4 board read in a branch this small.
- —Underestimating the joint-fires conversation post-2022. The COCOM J3 fires sections value FA captains with HIMARS / cannon / radar KD plus joint targeting depth; declining the joint exposure narrows senior-officer options and the O-5 board reads it.
- —Treating the FA51 acquisition designation as a consolation prize. The PrSM, MRC, LRHW / Dark Eagle, and PIM modernization volume means FA51 is one of the FA branch's highest-leverage technical careers — the program offices want captains with battery command and FA-system depth.
The good 13A captain is the battery commander whose CTC rotation OER reads at the O/C/T credit lane, whose battery's first-round time and ammunition / sensitive-item posture is the BCT's reference, and whose LTs leave the battery FDO / PL / FSO certified and FACCC-bench ready. Their FACCC small-group leader writes a read FA branch quotes at slating; their post-command BN S-3 air or BCT FSCOORD junior tour produces a major-board-ready OER profile; their joint exposure (COCOM J3 fires, joint staff, or strategic fires brigade tour) is on the record before the O-4 IPZ window; and their name surfaces in the FA branch chief's short list for ILE / CGSC selection and the post-ILE battalion command bench.
What this actually is in the real world
Your skills translate. Here's what civilian employers call this job — and what they pay.
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
Strong matchTraining and Development Specialists
Related fieldOperations Research Analysts
Related fieldSalary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, retrieved Feb 2026. BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.
How exposed is the civilian version of this job to AI?
Not a measurement of this MOS. Published labor-market research on the closest civilian occupation in our crosswalk — treat it as a signal, not a verdict.
Closest civilian match: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers (close match)
Patrol work is physical, situational, and legally accountable in ways language models don’t touch. Two studies, a decade apart, using completely different methods, both land in the same place: low exposure.
This describes exposure for the civilian occupation, not a rating of this MOS, your unit, or your actual day-to-day duties. The matched civilian job is a close or related crosswalk, not exact.
Exposure research: Eloundou et al., "GPTs are GPTs" (arXiv preprint) (2023); Eloundou et al., Science 384(6702):1306-1308 (DOI 10.1126/science.adj0998) (2024); Eloundou et al. published occupation-level data (occ_level.csv) (2023); Frey & Osborne, "The Future of Employment" (Oxford Martin School / Technological Forecasting and Social Change 114:254-280) (2013).
Read the full methodology and see how much of the MOS catalog is scored so far on the AI/Automation Displacement Risk tool.
MOS Pulse
Anonymous · One tap · No accountThree seconds of your time, zero of your identity. This is how the honest picture of 13A gets built — one tap at a time.
Knowing what you know now — would you pick 13A again?
Did your recruiter describe this job accurately?
Hours per week this job actually takes in garrison?
That tap took 3 seconds. A full review takes 10 minutes — and does about 100x more for the next person staring at this contract.
Write the Full Review →Nobody’s gone first. Yet.
Zero reviews for 13A. Not because nobody has opinions — anyone who’s actually done Field Artillery, General is carrying a full magazine of them — but because nobody’s put theirs on the record.
So here’s the deal: the first approved review of every MOS becomes its Founding Review. Permanently badged, permanently first. Every person who looks up 13A from now on reads it before anything else — including the recruiter’s version.
We could fill this page with fake reviews tonight. Plenty of sites do. We never will — which means this space stays exactly this empty until someone who lived it goes first.
Anonymous by default — no name, no unit, fuzzy timestamps. Your chain of command never knows it was you.
13A Field Artillery, General — FAQ
Q01What does a 13A do in the Army?
Q02How long is 13A training and where is it held?
Q03What security clearance does a 13A need?
Q04What does a day in the life of a 13A look like?
Q05What civilian jobs does 13A translate to?
Q06How often do 13A soldiers deploy?
Q07What's the recruiter not telling me about 13A?
Sources:Branch MOS catalog · DTMO pay tables · DoD/.gov benefits references · O*NET civilian career mapping · verified service-member reviews