Page 49 - ABA Salvoes 1999-2024

THE EYES OF THE FLEET’S GUNS
By Maj MJ Sharp RA Battery Commander
Landing by small boat in the middle of the night having deployed by submarine or frigate or inserting by parachute and then patrolling inland to coordinate Joint Fires as part of a specialist surveillance and reconnaissance force may sound novel but the Gunners have been in this game for over 70 years and the requirement for these skills show no sign of abating. Mike Sharp reflects on the role of 148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery Royal Artillery and the recent makeover of 3rd Commando Brigade’s Reconnaissance Force into the Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group within the Lead Commando Task Force.
The capability delivered by the Lead Commando Group (LCG) is much more than its name suggests. Under the Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010 the output of 3rd Commando Brigade Royal Marines reduced from a Brigade level intervention to that of the ground manoeuvre volume of a battle group but enabled by a one star task force headquarters and supporting force elements. For the Royal Marines this was a comfortable scenario: it mirrored the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) construct of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) albeit on a more modest scale and reflected available shipping for the foreseeable future. Numbers matter and in a similar manner to 16 Air Assault Brigade’s Air Assault Task Force (AATF), the Lead Commando Group is a tailorable force package that sits between 1800 and 2200 personnel. The overall capability is far greater than the sum of its constituent parts through the harnessing of the power of combinations, the close integration with the Amphibious Task Group and the exploitation of the maritime flank which gives the LCG the ability to offer strategic reach, operational effect and deliver tactical actions. It should not be viewed as a standalone package (although clearly it can operate as one) but a plug and play enabler that can form part of a wider Joint Forces alongside shore and rear based assets to deliver an agile, scalable and expeditionary capability offering choice in terms of political engagement and operational application through the avoidance of harbours and airfields in the entry phase and mitigates for uncertain host nation acquiescence and support. Within the construct of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) the LCG offers a highly attractive capability package sitting in the slightly heavier bracket than the AATF with some protected mobility and sustainability from the sea base and including its own integral lift and logistics. Within this structure sits a Gunner Close Support Regiment (29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery – itself a truly joint organization with 21 Royal Marines, 12 Royal Navy and 4 Royal Air Forces ranks in addition to its 430 Army personnel) and a specialist Forward Observation Battery which appears to exist to provide Fire Support Teams (FST) to enable the employment of Naval Gunfire Support (NGS) against land
targets but in reality is so much more than this – in fact naval gunnery is the tip of the iceberg.
148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery Royal Artillery. The Battery’s mission is to provide intimate Joint Fires and Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) to Advanced and Pre Landing Forces (A/PLF) within 3rd Commando Brigade Royal Marines (3 Cdo Bde RM) and any other formation or organisation it is tasked to support. As Joint Fires controllers, and NGS specialists, trained to operate in close proximity of enemy forces, it can deploy as a discrete capability to deliver terminal control of joint fires or incorporated into a reconnaissance force to integrate fires in support of ground manoeuvre. Whilst 148 Battery traditionally delivers support to 3 Cdo Bde RM, as a specialist capability, it may be tasked to support any formation operating in the littoral, Op ELLAMY being a recent example. To support the complexity of Theatre Entry Operations, 148 Battery is structured into three elements: the NGS Section, FST Troop and Enablers. The FST Troop, structured with Six A/PLF FSTs commanded by a mixture of captains and sergeants, is held at graduated levels of readiness. Due to the specialisation with NGS, and the requirement to have trained Coxswains to pilot the inflatable craft to shore, the FSTs will normally deploy with a seventh member; larger than the average FST. The Career Employment Qualification (CEQ) for the FSTs is OP Ack, all team members also maintain an additional CEQ of NGS OP Ack and two team members are qualified to control Close Air Support (CAS). The NGS section, perpetually at R2, is designed to operate as a single entity, or to split into three discrete elements in order to support forces committed to the phase of operation and laydown of the Task Force. The three elements of the NGS Section, with mirrored qualifications (and therefore capability) include the: Naval Gunfire Operations Cell, the A/PLF Joint Fires Cell [3] (A/PLF JFC), and the Battery Commander’s Tactical HQ. 148 Battery A/PLF FSTs are fully integrated into 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group - the formation’s eyes and ears, specifically within the Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS) Group, deploying alongside (as formed FSTs) or embedded with the Ground Manned Reconnaissance multifunction teams [3] Under NATO doctrine the PLF JFC would alternatively be named the Advance Force Supported Arms Coordination Cell as fires specialists and reconnaissance generalists with the Royal Marines’ Mountain Leaders. The Battery also delivers the framework for the Brigade Targeting cell with the Battery Commander acting as SO2 Targets within HQ 3 Cdo Bde RM and the BSM acting as the Targeting Warrant Officer. This is highly appropriate given the dependency on information exploitation and so the BC is both a brigade staff appointment and a close support battery commander to 30 (Information Exploitation) Commando Royal Marines. The brigade
Amphibious Bombardment Association | 47