Deep in the rolling hills of the Fort Hood training areas, GREYWOLF Troopers, civilian technological masterminds, and the U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC), look for new ways to modernize the Army’s most up-to-date version of the M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzer system, Nov. 18, 2020. The GREYWOLF Troopers of 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery (2-82 FA), 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, hosted this live fire demonstration in collaboration of over 14 high end civilian agencies and AFC in hopes of increasing the firing rate of the self-propelled howitzer, adding a technical edge to an already extremely lethal piece of weaponry.
“We have 15 firms out here that we have on contract and each have a different niche, each have a different core competency, and each are really at the top of our game in what they do,” said Col. Tim Fuller, project manager for Self-Propelled Howitzer Systems. “It is absolutely imperative that we have partnerships and relationships with all of our folks within the military as well as in industry outside of the military. We’ve asked them to take a look at how we do things today, and what we can do better; specifically, improving the rate of fire of our self-propelled howitzers.
Several GREYWOLF Troopers were assigned to escort multiple groups of civilians to the firing lines where the contracted agencies could analyze the way the system currently operates and think of innovative ways to modernize the equipment. The agencies were also invited to take a tour of the inside of the vehicle to get a closer and a more in depth look at how the machinery works. This ties into what our brigade has already been doing, we are undergoing a huge modernization effort right now across the brigade. This battalion is fielding brand new A7 Paladins, along with new ammo supply vehicles, and in addition brigade just replaced brigade entire Humvee fleet with the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle trucks.
The GREYWOLF brigade and the 1st Cavalry Division is the tip of the spear when it comes to the modernization of the Army, making them the perfect hosts for the innovative and modern team to spectate. The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division (“Third Grey Wolf Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division”) is a combined arms armored brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas. Its major equipment includes M1A2SEP Tanks, M2A3 & M3A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M109A6 Paladin howitzers, and M1114 up-armored Humvees. Under the modularization of the 1st Cavalry Division, two battalions were transferred to 4th Brigade and the 8th Engineers were inactivated.
