‘A new way of thinking’: US Army talks artillery strategy with allies in Poland

JOHN VANDIVER

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U.S. and NATO military leaders receive a tour of the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System during a three-day summit in Torun, Poland, April 18, 2023. (John Schoebel/U.S. Army National Guard)

The U.S. Army held an “artillery summit” this week with allies in Poland, where commanders strategized how to better incorporate a much-lauded rocket system into their fighting formations.

V Corps, at a Polish base in the north-central city of Torun, brought senior leaders together for the European High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Initiative.

The Corps headquarters described it as a “pathbreaking” effort to enhance how allies fight together with long-range firepower.

“We see this as the underpinning of an expanded ability to fight with joint fires in support of large-scale combat operations,” V Corps commander Lt. Gen. John S. Kolasheski said in a statement Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. John S. Kolasheski, commander of V Corps, speaks with Army leaders during the European Rocket Artillery Summit in Torun, Poland, April 18, 2023. (John Schoebel/U.S. Army National Guard)

The HIMARS system has received added attention ever since Ukraine put the weaponry to effective use against Russian units, a factor that helped Ukraine’s smaller military push back a larger Russian force.

The three-day summit in Poland, which concluded Wednesday, marked a milestone for V Corps’ new HIMARS initiative, which eventually will bring allied troops together with American units for an apprenticeship program.

The effort focuses on countries that either have HIMARS or are in the pipeline to acquire the system.

“We take their officers and noncommissioned officers and embed them into our HIMARS or [Multiple Launch Rocket System] battalions, where they get an opportunity to learn what it takes to effectively man, train, maintain and sustain the system,” Kolasheski said.

The U.S. military over the past year also has made the HIMARS system a focal point during training events across Europe, showcasing how the rockets can be boarded on military aircraft for quick reaction operations.

U.S. and Polish troops prepare their equipment displays for the European Rocket Artillery Summit in Torun, Poland, April 18, 2023. (John Schoebel/U.S. Army National Guard)

Col. Wil Hsu, commander of the 41st Field Artillery Brigade, based out of Grafenwoehr, said the system enables commanders to reach targets “that are really far out.”

“The HIMARS can go on C-130 and C-17 (cargo planes) and be transported around the European theater and make a big impact,” he said in the statement.

Maj. Gen. Greg Anderson, whose 10th Mountain Division headquarters is now deployed to Europe, said the summit served as a forum for allies to stitch together an array of components so that allied and divisions and corps can fight as one.

“We’re training each other — iron sharpens iron,” Anderson said.

Lt. Gen. Wieslaw Kukula, commander of the Polish Territorial Defense Forces, said the effort amounted to a “new way of thinking” about how “we create a shared mental picture.”