Training Circular (TC) 3-09.81, "Field Artillery Manual Cannon Gunnery," sets forth the doctrine pertaining to the employment of artillery fires. It explains all aspects of the manual cannon gunnery problem and presents a practical application of the science of ballistics. It includes step-by-step instructions for manually solving the gunnery problem which can be applied within the framework of decisive action or unified land operations. It is applicable to any Army personnel at the battalion or battery responsible to delivered field artillery fires. The principal audience for ATP 3-09.42 is all members of the Profession of Arms. This includes field artillery Soldiers and combined arms chain of command field and company grade officers, middle-grade and senior noncommissioned officers (NCO), and battalion and squadron command groups and staffs. This manual also provides guidance for division and corps leaders and staffs in training for and employment of the BCT in decisive action. This publication may also be used by other Army organizations to assist in their planning for support of battalions. This manual builds on the collective knowledge and experience gained through recent operations, numerous exercises, and the deliberate process of informed reasoning. It is rooted in time-tested principles and fundamentals, while accommodating new technologies and diverse threats to national security.

This manual is a guide for field artillery officers and commanders and staffs of all combat arms. It is concerned with the tactical employment of field artillery. It covers organization, command, and tactical control of field artillery. It includes a discussion of the techniques involved in target intelligence and analysis, field artillery fire planning, and the direction of field artillery fires. It includes a general discussion of the principles, organization and techniques of coordination of fire support with particular emphasis given to field artillery aspects. The employment of field artillery in airborne, amphibious, and other special operations is covered. Where the term artillery is used in this manual, it refers to field artillery. For employment of air defense artillery, see FM 44-1 and other manuals of the 44-series. For additional references, see appendix I. The material presented herein is applicable without modification to both nuclear and nonnuclear warfare."

This paper focuses on the formulation of doctrine since World War II. In no comparable period in history have the dimensions of the battlefield been so altered by rapid technological changes. The need for the tactical doctrines of the Army to remain correspondingly abreast of these changes is thus more pressing than ever before. Future conflicts are not likely to develop in the leisurely fashions of the past where tactical doctrines could be refined on the battlefield itself. It is, therefore, imperative that we apprehend future problems with as much accuracy as possible. One means of doing so is to pay particular attention to the business of how the Army's doctrine has developed historically, with a view to improving methods of future development.