are they going to add any mortars ti the artillery battalions. it would make sense, since they are being used that much. then you could have them move more freely with an infantry unit and provide additional fire to them. i think there being used as extra infantry already, at least keep them in the realm of there mos just an idea any other ideas???

Mortars are currenlty employed and carried within the mortar platoon in the US infantry battalions; 81mm in Light Infantry w/ 60 mm at the company level and 120 MM at the battalion level in mech and armor battalions

Mortars have always been assigned to the infantry with the exception of the chemical mortar units (4.2 inch) wehich were intended to emply gas.  But that concept went away after WW II

 

The MOS for mortarmen is 11C, not 13C.  It is an infantry weapon.  In the early days in A'stan the artillery units employed the infantry's 120mm mortars with poor results.  The arty needs to keep its howitzers and the infantry its mortars. 

It's funny that someone suggested that arty should be equipped with mortars, since usally the suggestion is the other way around (get rid of the mortars and just use howitzers).

In Vietnam, in some AO's there were enough firebases with at least a battery of howitzers that many of the combat units there didn't use their mortars, since they were always within the range fan of artillery.  (The exception being the short-ranged 60mm mortars that the platoons and rifle companies wanted to have...)

 

Howitzers have much longer range, and (depending) a better variety of munitions to chose from.

Range means alot in the artillery.  Enough range, and you can even use heavy SP howitzers to support light infantry, in some circumstances (Note: I said *sometimes*)  I'm definitely a believer in companies having their section of mortars.

The USMC is purchasing 120mm mortars.  Their exact location in the organization is debated.  There are many cogent arguments for keeping it as a battalion weapon.  But with a 7,000 meter range and its weight of fire in the context of brigade ops it is important to enable the rapid massing of fires with it.  That implies the 120mm fire control would be linked to other units as is common with US artillery, and the final decision for target priority above the battalion command level.

The only Western army I can think of that have moved their heavy mortars to the artillery are the French. They have done this partly because they lack light artillery (their 155mm guns are very large and heavy) and partly to free up battalion mortar platoons and create extra infantry. Even the French though still keep a couple of 81mm mortars in each infantry company.

 

Most other forces (i.e. British, Italian, German, Spanish etc) still keep mortars in their infantry battalions. The US Army will even be increasing their mortar firepower in FCS units as each combined arms btn will gain of battery of 8 x 120mm mortars.

The French do have 105mm - LG1, although IMHO it is not one of the great designs. 

 

Their towed 155mm btys are dual equipped with 155mm and 120mm mortars, they deploy with whichever is mosre suitable to the task.  I think this dual equipment will continue when the current towed 155 are replaced by Ceasar starting in the next year or so. 

Surely its just a conicidence...

After the USMC replaced the four or five models of cannon with the single M198 howitzer it was decided to retain the old M101 in storage.  Small numbers of these were used to equip the batterys depolyed afloat with the Expiditionary Units (MEU).  These were "split batterys" with four M198 & four M101.  The resaoning was partly from the difficulty in air transporting the M198.  

Crtics were skeptical of the crew preficiency with the second cannon system, but I dont think any of those were artillerymen.  It took just a few days of actual hands on training to concert a cannon section from one to the other model.  In Febuary of 1991 we (E Bty, 14th Mar) spent two days drilling the coverted platoon and two or three more days of shooting to establish proficiency.  It was not rocket science.