Fires MUD TO
SPACE
The Senior NCO’s Perspective
on the State of the
Fires Center of Excellence
defense artillery NCO Education System courses, Fort Sill’s NCO
By CSM Joseph D. Smith, Academy will soon be known as the Fires NCO Academy. Within
Command Sergeant Major the next year, under U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s
of the Fires Center of transfer plan, the Fort Polk, La., and Fort Hood, Texas, NCO
Excellence and Academies and Warrior Leaders Courses will fall under the Fires
Fort Sill, Okla. Center of Excellence’s command and control. The Warrior Leaders
W
Course has transitioned from 30 to 15 days, and will increase to 17
hat is the Fires Center days by January 2010. The change in length of the Warrior Leaders
of Excellence? What Course will provide our junior NCOs more opportunities to receive
can and will it do for valuable training. The Basic NCO and Advanced NCO Courses are
me, the Fires Soldier? These are also being revamped,
just a couple questions that some and will be renamed
of you near and far from the flag the Advanced Leaders
pole might be wondering. Most Course and the Senior
of you know that the FCoE includes both air defense and field Leaders Course, re-
artilleries, but again what does that mean for you? In this article spectively. The length
I will give you, “The senior NCO’s perspective on the state of of these courses is
the Fires Center of Excellence,” and the discussion will include being extended by an
what the Fires center is about and what it can do for you. average of about two
Initially, the Fires Center of Excellence became a reality on weeks. We have also
Aug. 14, during a flagging and patching ceremony. The unveiling scheduled several air
of the new unit colors and donning the new patch signified the Fires defense artillery and
Center of Excellence’s headquarters detachment achieving initial field artillery mobile
operating capacity. Oct. 1, 2009 marked the effective date of the training teams for the
unit operating with an approved organizational structure of more next year to help the
than 1,300 Soldiers and Department of the Army civilians. warfighter at home
Red Book 2009: mud to space
The Fires Center of Excellence is working hard to support station. We are also
the warfighter. The commanding general has start