The Boomstick
The God of War
The KING of Battle
The one and only Field Artillery, the most lethal branch of the United States Army, the Field Artillery Branch is the second oldest branch of the Army being created on the 17th of November 1775 when Colonel Henry Knox retrieved the cannons of the until recently British held fort Fort Ticonderoga in Eastern New York state to deliver them to the city of Boston in Massachusetts. Over the years the Field Artillery has used multiple cannons from the 1805 Napoleonic Cannons of their insignia to nuclear capable 280mm Howitzers and self propelled howitzers weighing more than some tanks. Today the Field Artillery has 4 primary howitzers. The M119A3 commonly nicknamed "The Doorknocker" for its small size and light weight, the M109A6 and A7 Paladin self propelled howitzers each weighing over 40 tonnes, and the M777A2. The M777A2 is a 155mm Medium Towed Howitzer with a rotating interrupted screw vertically opening breech, with a double baffle muzzle break, weighing 5 tonnes and a range of 30km, 400 mils of traverse in each direction and 1200 mils of elevation. The M777 began as the Ultralight Field Howitzer, developed by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering's Armaments Division in Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom. VSEL was bought by BAE Systems after the UFH prototypes had been manufactured and demonstrated, consequently BAE became responsible for future design refinements. The current model for the M777, the A2 is the third major model of the Howitzer with the original M777 being simply a "degraded" piece shooting g off of a collimator and aiming poles with a simple radio mount and inertial GPS system on board, the A1 variant brought a massive refit for the fleet installing a digital fire control system having the gunner, assistant gunner, a section chief able to look at their own screens to get all the information needed for proper laying and aiming along with a muzzle velocity sensor, upgrades to the wires, materials and other minor upgrades, the A2 saw the Block A1+ Software Update and is physically and materially identical to the A1. The "Triple 7" uses the standard array of 155mm NATO Ammunition including but not limited to the M107, M975, M982 Excalibur, M895, and M712 Copperhead ammunition along with White Phosphorus, Illumination, Hexachloroethane, and DPICM. As with most American Howitzers they are nominally crewed by 7, a Chief of Section, Ammunition Team Chief, Gunner, Assistant Gunner, Number 1 and 2 Man, and 2 Round Runners. The Chief, ATC, and Gunner are positions of Non-Commissioned Officers although with ATC and Gunner it is not uncommon to have Junior Enlisted in those positions, while the Number 1, 2, and Round Runners are generally Junior and Lower Enlisted positions. With larger crews more positions can be covered to ease operations. Generally these will be the addition of a "Powder Bitch" a member who gets and hands the powder charges to the Number 2 for loading. Following the Powder Bitch it is down to SOP and Chief's preference for distributing duties, from adding a crewmember to man one of the various crewserve weapons, additional round runners, an RTO, or a specialized Advanced Party personnel who helps in the batteries reconnaissance and security. The M777 is currently trying undergoing another upgrade under the Extended Range Cannon Artillery Program known as the M777ER with an extended barrel and range. For maneuver and transportation the 777 paired with 2 trucks of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles with an M1083 built by Stewart & Stevenson for a prime mover that hauls both the howitzer, it's light equipment, and crew, and an M1084A1P2 built by Oshkosh to transport Ammunition, Charges, and other secondary equipment.

FOR NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS FREE
THATS WHY I JOINED ARTILLERY
OH HAIL THE, OH HAIL THE, OH HAIL THE FIELD ARTILLERY
KING OF BATTLE FOLLOW ME