Fewer Headquarters, Greater Strength

28/6/2012 Yaakov Zigdon - israeldefense.com

Thirty years after the artillery revolution in the First Lebanon War, Brigadier General (Ret.) Arie Mizrachi urges the IDF to reduce its headquarters and invest in force buildup

Prior to the Yom Kippur War, the IDF’s entire artillery layout consisted of twenty-five battalions composed of antiquated towed cannons and captured Russian-made guns. The artillery corps was neglected to the point of disparagement. The late Major General Israel Tal, deputy chief of staff at the time, once said: “I have a tank brigade with a hundred and twenty 105 mm guns; I don’t need another twelve 155 mm artillery barrels.”

Fortunately for the IDF, artillery officers that were exceptionally skilled in math and trigonometry elevated the corps to a high level of proficiency and precision. Long and exhaustive training combined with rigorous screening produced a bold, aggressive, and innovative leadership.

Despite inferior weapons, artillery commanders were able to lay down accurate fire concentrations that decided pivotal engagements in the Yom Kippur War, such as the Suez Canal crossing and the Valley of Tears battle in the Golan Heights.

Following the Yom Kippur War, the defense establishment applied the lessons it learned and introduced widespread changes. It quickly replenished the artillery corps with new weapons systems, smart bombs, battlefield computers, complex spotting and measuring systems, advanced combat radios, and laser rangefinders.

 

Armored forces in the First Lebanon War (Photo: AP)

The 25 obsolete artillery battalions in the Yom Kippur War gave way to 87 modern artillery battalions by 1982. The growth was not only in quantity, but more significantly, in the quality of the manpower operating the sophisticated equipment that integrated computerized firing systems, spotting devices, target acquisition capabilities, and smart shells. This remarkable expansion of the corps was supported by the instructional and training layout at the Shivta Field Artillery School.

One example of this transformation can be seen in the changes from 1973 with the Yom Kippur War – when the corps possessed only one battalion of M109 155 mm self-propelled howitzers – to 1982 in the First Lebanon War. Between the wars, the corps increased their array to 450 armored fighting vehicles.

What is most amazing about this transformation is that during this period of unprecedented buildup, the chief artillery officer’s headquarters remained the same – no new buildings were added and manpower remained at the same level, even as the corps doubled and tripled in size.

When the First Lebanon War erupted, field artillery was ready to spring into action. The combination of new fire application methods, strategy, tactics, combat doctrines, rigorous simulator training, and live-fire exercises transformed the corps into the surprise element needed to win the war.

The IDF deployed 32 battalions in Lebanon and 18 in the Golan Heights. Artillery participated in all the major battles, including the landing near the Awali River in Lebanon. They also participated in the rescue of a tank battalion in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub – the site of one of the bloodiest encounters in the war, where dozens of artillery battalions laid down concentrated fire against the Syrian Army. Ultimately, the corps’ intensive use of direct fire saved the ground forces from urban warfare in Beirut and determined the Artillery Corps’ status as a deciding factor on the battlefield.

Its success in the First Lebanon War demonstrated that investment in equipment, instruction, and training produced optimal results. The cost-benefit ratio was at a maximum, without the addition of an unnecessary headquarters. The new battalions and artillery groups were full-fledged combat units, and even the Field Artillery School was organized as a fighting group and participated in the war. A perfect operational balance was maintained between armory, infantry, engineers, and artillery ground firepower long before the IDF’s Ground Arm Headquarters was established. This is a valid lesson from the past that still holds true today.