Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS)/High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) Crewmember

You are a cannoneer on a launcher crew. The pod is heavy, the timeline is unforgiving, and the rocket does not care whether you slept — your job is to make sure the launcher is ready when the FDC sends the mission.

You came out of 13M OSUT at Fort Sill — the Field Artillery Center of Excellence — with the basics of the launcher, the pod, and the crew drill. Whether your unit fields the M142 HIMARS (wheeled, single pod, C-130 airliftable) or the M270A2 MLRS (tracked, two pods, heavier and armored) you came out of the schoolhouse knowing the difference and you are about to find out what your specific platform actually demands. Most of your week is launcher maintenance under the section chief, pod handling drills with the HEMTT or ammo platform truck, comms checks on the platoon net, and the unglamorous detail rotation — motorpool, CQ, range support, area beautification. Field problems are where the job is real: you sleep cold, you eat MREs, you run hot-pod-cold-pod reload drills until the section chief stops correcting you, you drive the launcher to the firing point, and you execute Shoot-and-Scoot displacement on the section chief's call.

• 01Run a complete launcher crew drill — emplace, lay, prep-to-fire, fire, displace — to the STP 6-13M task standard, with no coaching from the section chief.
• 02Handle a rocket pod / launch pod container (LPC) — uncrate, lift, mate, lock — using the HEMTT-LHS or the resupply vehicle without dropping, fouling, or pinching a finger.
• 03Drive the launcher (M142 wheeled or M270A2 tracked) to PMCS standard — fluids, tracks/tires, hydraulics, fire-control connections — and convoy it under blackout with NVGs without ditching the truck.
• 04Operate the launcher's fire control system at the cannoneer level — power-up, BIT checks, GPS sync, mission receive on the FDC link, safety checks before the launcher elevates.
• 05Function-check, load, reduce stoppages, and clear the crew-served weapon assigned to the section — M2, M240, M249 in the protected position depending on platform.
• 06Maintain your kit so it survives a tactical road march: tape and dummy-cord what matters, waterproof your CVC bag and your sleep system, throw out what you do not need.

• —STP 6-13M — Soldier's Manual and Trainer's Guide, MOS 13M (the task standard for every cannoneer skill).
• —ATP 3-09.60 — Multiple Launch Rocket System and HIMARS Operations.
• —FM 3-09 — Field Artillery Operations.
• —ATP 3-09 — Fires (the FA branch doctrinal spine).
• —STP 21-1-SMCT — Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks, Warrior Skills Level 1.
• —AR 670-1 — Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia.

• —ACFT 500+ to be left alone, 540+ to start getting noticed for schools.
• —Qualify Expert on the M4 every cycle — the badge stays on your blouse, the slug score is your reputation in the section.
• —Sustainment qualification on every 13M crew task on the STP 6-13M task list at the cannoneer position — the section chief signs you off, not the platoon roster.
• —License-up on the launcher (M142 or M270A2) and the HEMTT family of trucks you will actually drive in your section — the unit licensing NCO's OF-346 sits in your record.

• —Treating PMCS as a formation event. The section chief who finds a hydraulic leak or a stripped fire-control connection during a real mission remembers it.
• —Skipping a comms or BIT check before the section moves to the firing point. The launcher gets there with a system fault and the FDC waits — your name is on the timeline.
• —Fingers, hands, or boots inside the elevation/azimuth arcs when the launcher slews. Crush and pinch injuries on the platform are a documented hazard and a 15-6 the section does not need.
• —Losing a sensitive item — fire-control component, SKL fill device, CVC headset, ECCM gear. The 1SG knows your name now and not the way you want.
• —Posting OPSEC-relevant photos with launcher numbers, pod markings, unit patches, or firing-point coordinates visible. The collection effort against US long-range fires is real and the brigade S2 will hear about it.

The good cherry cannoneer is invisible the right way: kit squared, launcher PMCS clean, pod handling drills smooth, mouth shut, asking questions during AAR instead of during the brief. By month nine the section chief is trusting him to run gunner-position drills. By month eighteen he is on the short list to pin SPC early, the platoon sergeant is asking what school he wants, and the section is starting to treat him as the second-best cannoneer on the launcher instead of the new guy.

You are the senior cannoneer on the launcher crew and the section chief's designated hitter. Corporals run drills; specialists run the work that lets the section run.

You are the proficiency floor on the launcher — the new privates copy how you handle a pod, how you talk on the FDC link, how you call sectors on the firing point. You are working the gunner position on the launcher: receiving the technical fire-direction data from the FDC, validating the firing solution against the safety-T, monitoring elevation and azimuth as the launcher lays, and making the prep-to-fire call to the section chief. If you are corporal-pinned, you are running cannoneer drills on a section by yourself when the section chief is at the FDC or the BUB. If you are still SPC, you are the bench — running the resupply vehicle, the radio, the night-time pod reload, the additional duty (arms room, training NCO, supply) the section cannot live without.

• 01Run the gunner position on the launcher under tactical conditions — receive the fire mission, validate against the safety-T, monitor the lay, make the prep-to-fire call — to the STP 6-13M and ATP 3-09.60 standard.
• 02Lead a complete hot reload / cold reload drill with the resupply crew under day and night conditions, on time, with no pod-handling errors.
• 03Operate AFATDS and the launcher fire-control system at the operator level — receive missions, send status, run system recovery without paging the FDC chief.
• 04Plan a section displacement (Shoot-and-Scoot): firing point selection per the platoon SOP, route reconnaissance, hide-position selection, ammo accountability across the move.
• 05Brief a section-level pre-combat inspection (PCI) — launcher PMCS, pod inventory, comms fills, fire-control checks, casualty plan, MEDEVAC plan, lost-soldier plan — as a checklist with consequences, not a head-nod.
• 06Walk a casualty through MEDEVAC 9-line and conduct a TCCC handoff that the medic actually wants to receive.

• —ATP 3-09.60 — Multiple Launch Rocket System and HIMARS Operations.
• —STP 6-13M — Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks, MOS 13M (own the gunner-position task list).
• —FM 3-09 — Field Artillery Operations.
• —ATP 3-09 — Fires.
• —TC 3-22.9 — Rifle and Carbine.
• —ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership and the Profession.

• —Section certification on every gunner-position task in STP 6-13M — the section chief signs, the platoon sergeant validates.
• —BLC (Basic Leader Course) packet pulled and slot scheduled — STEP gate for SGT pin-on, slots evaporate, the platoon sergeant fights the window once.
• —ACFT 540+ minimum, 580+ if you are positioning for a school like Air Assault, Airborne, or the early Master Fires Sergeant Course conversation.
• —Air Assault and/or Airborne wings if your battalion lane supports it (17th FA Brigade out of JBLM, 18th FA Brigade out of Fort Liberty — renamed from Fort Bragg in 2023 — and 41st FA Brigade in Germany all run launcher-based formations with credentialed slots).
• —Be the section SME on at least one major system — fire-control suite, comms, resupply vehicle — owned, not just qualified.

• —Coasting on launcher familiarity. The SPC who has not opened the TM since AIT is the SPC the section chief watches when the firing-point timeline gets tight.
• —Skipping the BLC packet because the slot is "probably next quarter." Slots vanish; your sergeant board does not move.
• —Running a PCI for cherries without reading their counseling. They are watching whether the standard is real or a paperwork drill.
• —Mishandling a fire-control component, an SKL fill, or a rocket pod inventory — even once. The 1SG knows your name now and the battery commander reads your counseling at the next QTB.
• —Posting platform-related photos to social media — launcher numbers, pod tail-codes, firing-point grids, GMLRS variant markings. Long-range precision fires are a high-collection target and the brigade S2 will spot a serial number from a unit Instagram.

The good 13M Specialist is the cannoneer the section chief puts on the gunner position without thinking — fastest hot-reload time in the platoon, cleanest fire-control checks on the safety-T, the cherry whose section never misses a timeline. The good Corporal is the one whose three-soldier slice of the section beats every other slice at the section-level ARTEP-MTP lane, and whose privates are squared because he counsels them honestly, not because he yells.

You own the launcher. The section is yours — three to four soldiers, one launcher, one resupply vehicle, and a firing-point timeline that the FDC does not adjust for you.

You are the launcher Section Chief on an M142 HIMARS section or an M270A2 MLRS section — the NCO responsible for the crew, the platform, and the timeline from mission receipt through pod expenditure to displacement and resupply. You write counseling statements on the 14th of every month and after every fire mission. You sign for the launcher, the pods on board, the fire-control suite, the SKL, the CVC headsets — hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment under one hand-receipt. You inspect cannoneer skills, you certify your gunner, you brief the platoon sergeant on the bottom-up readiness of your section, and you walk into the FDC to dispute a fires-cell call when the safety-T does not match. You will spend more time on DTS and the unit's training schedule than you expect; you will also still be on the firing point at 0530.

• 01Run a complete fire mission from launcher receipt to displacement — emplace, lay, prep-to-fire, fire, Shoot-and-Scoot — to the ATP 3-09.60 standard, with a cherry on the gunner position you are training in real time.
• 02Plan and execute a section live-fire — risk assessment (DD 2977), surface danger zones for GMLRS / ER-GMLRS / ATACMS (where supported) or the new PrSM entering service, MEDEVAC plan, post-fire pod accountability.
• 03Write a clean, legally defensible DA 4856 counseling — Plan of Action that is specific, measurable, signed before the soldier walks out.
• 04Brief a section-level OPORD or a movement plan to the platoon LT and the platoon sergeant using graphics they do not have to rewrite.
• 05Run the section's pre-combat ritual — rehearsals, PCC/PCI, comms check, casualty plan, lost-soldier plan, hide-position plan, before the LT shows up to ask.
• 06Counsel a soldier on a financial problem (predatory loan, garnishment) and walk them to the right S1 / Army Community Service office.

• —ATP 3-09.60 — Multiple Launch Rocket System and HIMARS Operations (own this manual cover-to-cover).
• —FM 3-09 — Field Artillery Operations.
• —ATP 3-09 — Fires.
• —STP 6-13M — Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks, MOS 13M.
• —AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy (the SHARP / EO / leadership accountability spine).
• —AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions and Reductions; AR 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System; ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership.

• —Section certified on every Section Chief task in STP 6-13M — the platoon sergeant signs, the battery 1SG validates.
• —BLC graduate (required); ALC packet built and ready when the slot drops.
• —ACFT 560+ as a floor — your soldiers do not respect a section chief who fails the test they have to pass.
• —Section ARTEP-MTP "T" rating on the launcher fire-mission tasks your battery METL calls for.
• —Promotion points stacked: weapons quals, schools (Air Assault, Airborne), CLEP / DSST / TA, correspondence / SSD — the worksheet is reviewed quarterly.

• —Counseling soldiers verbally. If it is not in writing, it did not happen and the battery commander cannot defend you at the Article 15.
• —Letting your section fail the platoon sergeant inspection because you did not pre-inspect the launcher and the pods on Sunday.
• —Doing the work yourself instead of teaching your senior cannoneer to do it. You will be relieved or your section will fail when you go to BLC.
• —Skipping risk management on a live fire. The CO will not stand by you when a soldier loses a hand in a pod-handling injury and DA 2977 is blank.
• —Going to the LT instead of the platoon sergeant with section-internal problems. The chain runs through the platoon sergeant for a reason.

The good 13M Section Chief is the NCO the platoon sergeant trusts with the worst cannoneer in the battery because he turns them into a soldier instead of a paperwork problem. His section's fire-mission timeline is the platoon's reference. His launcher PMCS is clean at every command inspection. His soldiers re-enlist, get the school slot, and ALC is on the schedule before the platoon sergeant has to push.

You are the senior NCO running multiple sections, or you are the platoon sergeant in waiting. The PSG is mentoring you; the LT is leaning on you; the launcher crews do not see the LT, they see you.

You run a launcher platoon's senior section, or you are the acting platoon sergeant when the SFC is at MLC, on leave, or running a battery task. The platoon — two to three launchers (HIMARS or MLRS), the resupply vehicles, the platoon HQ truck, and 15-25 soldiers — looks to you for training, equipment, families, and careers. You build training schedules, sign for serialized fire-control gear at platoon level, conduct quarterly counselings, defend your sections in the OPORD back-brief, and translate the LT's commander's intent into something cannoneers can rehearse. You will be in the battery TOC more than you want and on the firing point less than you remember.

• 01Develop and defend a Quarterly Training Brief (QTB) input for your sections — METL-aligned, resource-realistic, with a clean LOE for your platoon sergeant or battery 1SG.
• 02Plan and run a platoon live fire (HIMARS or MLRS) from concept to AAR — risk assessment, MEDEVAC plan, surface danger zones for the munition family on the platform (GMLRS unitary, GMLRS alternative-warhead, ER-GMLRS for extended range, ATACMS being replaced, PrSM entering service), post-fire pod accountability.
• 03Brief a platoon OPORD that the LT does not have to rewrite — graphics, FRAGO discipline, no surprises.
• 04Manage the platoon's readiness across personnel, equipment, training, and individual training records — and report it honestly in unit-status terms.
• 05Mentor your section chiefs on how to be section chiefs. If they leave your platoon as bad NCOs, that is on you.
• 06Run a tactical road march or air-load operation as the senior NCO in the manifest — the M142 HIMARS is a C-130 airliftable platform and that is a real planning task; load plans, comm plan, contingency plan.

• —ATP 3-09.60 — Multiple Launch Rocket System and HIMARS Operations.
• —FM 3-09 — Field Artillery Operations.
• —ATP 3-09 — Fires.
• —AR 350-1 — Army Training and Leader Development (you build training to this).
• —ATP 5-19 — Risk Management; DA Form 7566 / DD 2977 — Composite Risk Management Worksheet.
• —AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions; AR 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System (you write NCOERs now).

• —ALC graduate (required), SLC packet ready when promotion to E-7 enters the discussion.
• —Senior schools on the record: Air Assault, Airborne, or specialty identifier (Drill Sergeant, Recruiter, Master Fires Sergeant Course at Fort Sill) — the differentiator on the SFC board.
• —ACFT 560+ minimum; your CSM is watching the platoon's aggregate.
• —NCOER bullets on the OFFICIAL achievement list — clean action-result-impact format, no fluff.
• —Platoon fire-mission timeline and pod-expenditure accountability at or above the battery average; section ARTEP-MTP "T" rating on the launcher METL.

• —Writing the NCOER as a wish list instead of an evaluation. Senior raters read every one and remember the SSG who inflated.
• —Skipping risk management on a platoon live fire. The battery commander will not stand by you when a soldier is hurt and DA 2977 is blank.
• —Letting the senior section chief in the platoon run wild because he is "your guy." That is favoritism on the next IG complaint.
• —Allowing pod / fire-control / SKL accountability to slide on a displacement day. One serial number missing on a launcher-mounted fire-control component eats the battery schedule for a week.
• —Hiding section problems from the PSG to look good. He will find out — usually from the LT, in the worst way.

The good 13M Squad Leader equivalent — Senior Section Chief or acting PSG — has sections that perform identically whether he is at sick call or in the TOC. His section chiefs are NCOER-board ready. His soldiers re-enlist, get the school slot, and the battery is willing to lose him to the Master Fires Sergeant Course or to a Fort Sill TRADOC slot because everyone knows he will come back as the SFC the battalion needs.

You are the senior NCO in a launcher platoon. The LT signs. You execute. The battery 1SG and the FA battalion CSM watch.

You run the platoon's entire enlisted side — training, evaluations, schools, promotions, discipline, equipment, family readiness — across two-to-three HIMARS or MLRS launchers, the resupply vehicles, and 15-25 cannoneers and section chiefs. You build the LT into a battery commander, you run the platoon when he is in the BUB, and you write four-to-five section-chief NCOERs per cycle. You operate at battery and battalion level — the 1SG and the BC call you by name, the S3 schedules training around your platoon's ability to deliver fires, and the FA battalion CSM evaluates you against every other launcher PSG in the battalion. Whether you are in 17th FA Brigade (JBLM HIMARS), 18th FA Brigade (Fort Liberty, the XVIII Airborne Corps fires brigade), 41st FA Brigade (Germany), or 75th FA Brigade (Fort Sill, operating M270), the launcher fight runs on PSG quality.

• 01Build a quarterly training plan that survives contact with the S3 calendar — METL-aligned, resource-bid, locked.
• 02Write four section-chief NCOERs per cycle that the senior rater can defend at the FA battalion NCOER review.
• 03Run a platoon-collective launcher live fire to the ARTEP-MTP "T" rating — sustainment training, gunnery, lane validation, with the munition family the platform supports.
• 04Run a CSM-quality sensing session with your launcher crews and translate it into actions the LT and BC will fund.
• 05Mentor three section chiefs into SFC-board-ready candidates without losing your edge on your own SLC.
• 06Operate as an acting 1SG of the battery when required — accountability formation, sick call, casualty notification, family readiness, all of it.

• —ATP 3-09.60 — Multiple Launch Rocket System and HIMARS Operations.
• —FM 3-09 — Field Artillery Operations; ATP 3-09 — Fires.
• —AR 350-1 + DA PAM 350-9 — Training.
• —AR 623-3 + DA PAM 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System (your NCOERs go up against every other launcher platoon's).
• —AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions and Reductions; HRC promotion board policy memos — pull the current HRC SELCONT message when retention decisions are on the table.
• —TC 7-22.7 — The Army NCO Guide; ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership.

• —SLC graduate, MLC packet built — required for E-8 board competitiveness.
• —Master Fires Sergeant Course (Fort Sill) on the record where the chain supports — the visible differentiator at the senior NCO level in the FA community.
• —Platoon ACFT pass rate at or above 95%; platoon CTC rotation rating in the upper third of the battalion.
• —Platoon-level zero relievable incidents in your tenure — no negligent discharges, no DUIs you missed coming, no fire-control or pod accountability loss.
• —NCOER profile clean — Top Block / Most Qualified rate consistent with the platoon's actual fires output and section-chief development pipeline.

• —Letting one section chief drift because you trust him. That is the section the IG inspection or the next 15-6 will visit.
• —Confusing being "tight" with the LT with being aligned with the LT. The platoon needs you to push back honestly, in private.
• —Carrying a personal feud with a peer PSG into the battery. Battalion-level NCOERs and the FA battalion CSM notice.
• —Skipping the family-readiness piece because "the spouses run that." You sign the unit status report on family readiness for a reason — and launcher PSGs are on a deployment / rotation cycle that puts real load on families.
• —Going to the CSM around your 1SG. You will be wrong and you will be relieved.

The good 13M PSG runs a platoon the FA battalion CSM is willing to send to the worst rotation because they will not embarrass anyone. His LT gets command-list. His section chiefs get SFC. His soldiers get the schools they actually wanted — Master Fires Sergeant Course, Air Assault, Drill Sergeant. He is on the short list for First Sergeant of a launcher battery or for the brigade FA senior NCO bench before he sits the MLC seat.

You are the senior enlisted launcher leader — 1SG of a HIMARS or MLRS battery, FA battalion CSM, brigade-level fires senior NCO. You converted from 13M to 13Z (Field Artillery Senior Sergeant) at SFC; you are the senior FA generalist NCO now.

13M converts to 13Z (FA Senior Sergeant) at SFC — the senior FA enlisted MOS that runs FA batteries, FA battalions, and FA brigades regardless of whether the cannon, rocket, or target-acquisition side raised you. As 1SG of a launcher battery (HIMARS in 17th FA Brigade out of JBLM, 18th FA Brigade out of Fort Liberty — renamed from Fort Bragg in 2023 — or 41st FA Brigade in Germany; M270 in 75th FA Brigade out of Fort Sill) you run 100-130 soldiers across multiple launcher platoons, the FDC, the headquarters element, and the maintenance shop. As FA battalion CSM you advise the BC on every enlisted decision and set the standard for hundreds of soldiers by what you walk past. As brigade FSE SGM or DIVARTY senior NCO you sit in the fires conversation at echelons above brigade. You write fewer NCOERs but the ones you write pick the next launcher-battery 1SG slate and the next FA battalion CSM slate.

• 01Run a 1SG's call that produces actions, not anxiety — accountability, sick call, training, discipline, family readiness, finance — in 30 minutes.
• 02Build a battery training and tasking calendar that the BC defends at battalion BUB without surprises — launcher gunnery, joint readiness training center rotation prep, munition family validation across the platform's supported rounds.
• 03Mentor four PSGs and the senior staff NCOs as the next launcher-battery 1SG cohort.
• 04Walk the line during a battalion or CTC rotation and identify the broken systems in the launcher platoons before the OC/T does.
• 05Run a Red Cross / casualty notification with the dignity it requires — you are the face the family sees.
• 06Brief the battalion or brigade command team on the enlisted launcher force — retention, JFO/JTAC fires-integration posture (where the battery supports the maneuver fight), Master Fires Sergeant Course pipeline, and the things they cannot see from the conference room.

• —ATP 3-09.60 — Multiple Launch Rocket System and HIMARS Operations.
• —FM 3-09 — Field Artillery Operations; ATP 3-09 — Fires.
• —AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy (you and the CO own this together).
• —AR 27-10 — Military Justice (you are in the room when the Article 15 is read).
• —AR 350-1 — Training; AR 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System.
• —The 1SG Course / USASMA / SGM-A / Master Fires Sergeant Course professional development reading — you are now expected to consume FA doctrine and translate it down to the formation.

• —MLC graduate; USASMA / Sergeants Major Academy fellowship for SGM-track.
• —1SG / Sergeant Major Course completion before competing for command CSM slate (FA battalion or BCT-aligned CSM).
• —Battery UCMJ rate, retention rate, and SHARP/EO climate index in the top tier of the battalion.
• —Personal NCOER profile the senior rater can defend at brigade — the bar for command CSM is whether your rated NCOs got selected for the next launcher-battery 1SG or FSE SGM slate.
• —Zero senior-NCO-level integrity incidents — financial, fraternization, OPSEC. One ends the career permanently at this rank.

• —Pretending to be the senior technical voice on a launcher-system topic where you are out of date. PrSM is entering service while ATACMS is being replaced; the fires community moves quickly and the senior NCOs who fake depth lose authority fast.
• —Going public with disagreement with the BC over a launcher-employment call. You take the disagreement in the office; you walk out aligned.
• —Confusing seniority with leverage. The Army keeps senior FA NCOs who serve the formation, not the ones who run their own program.
• —Stopping personal physical training because you are "too senior." Soldiers stop respecting the chevrons when the body stops carrying them.
• —Confusing the warm-up to retirement with the job. Until you walk out of the formation for the last time, the launcher battery is your job.

The good 13Z 1SG / FA battalion CSM is the senior NCO every soldier in the formation knows by face and reputation. The BC trusts him with the worst news at 0200; the launcher crews trust him to defend the standard without grandstanding. His battery's launcher readiness, pod expenditure accuracy, and section-chief slate make the FA battalion CSM and the BCT commander name him in the BUB. His rated PSGs and 1SGs pin on schedule. His post-service market — DoD GS-13/14 fires roles, defense industry on HIMARS / PrSM / GMLRS family, FA branch TRADOC contractor — is open because he started the conversation 36 months before retirement.