Fort Sill initiates ATACMS missile training

Fort Sill began training troops in Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) in November to help Ukrainian soldiers fire missiles deeper into Russia.

The army base started training specific to entry level crew members, according to officials at the Field Artillery School Commandant’s Office at the base.

“At the 13M schoolhouse, we teach the differences of loading and unloading rocket pods v. missile pods into the M270A1 and the M142 HIMARS,” they said. “The students are also trained on loading and unloading the pods onto and off of our resupply vehicles.”

How important the training is depends on the context.

“From the crew member standpoint, the ATACMS training is not a huge difference from rockets the way our ammunition is placed in modular pods,” they said. “However, the training on ATACMS munitions are important because we need our crews well versed in all aspects of MLRS/HIMARS capabilities.”

The ATACMS’s capabilities are extensive, making it combat proven, time-sensitive, durable to all weather types and is capable to fire long range precision strikes, according to a fact sheet from Fort Sill. It has a mass firing range of 300 km, an inertial navigation system with GPS and can fire one missile per pod, among other things.