OIF Artillery Quotes and Facts

• The Army's 62 155-mm howitzers fired almost 14,500 rounds
• 54 Paladins fired 13,923 rounds
• 8 M198s fired 516 rounds
• The Army's 62 105-mm M119 howitzers fired 4,107 rounds
• The Army's 73 MLRS fired 857 rockets and 414 ATACMS
• Marine artillery fired 19,883 rounds

Quotes:

"To get the big guns, all you have to do is dial 198-PAIN."
- The motto of Battery F, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, whose M198 155 mm howitzers stand ready at the edge of the base here to rain steel down on enemy targets at a moment's notice. As for the "198-PAIN" motto, Sgt. Ricardo Tucker, a gun chief with Fox Battery, said it's like a call sign comrades downrange can use to call on the big guns. "We're just like the police," the Chicago native said. "You get into trouble, and we'll help you out."

"Artillery is our only seven-days-a-week, 24-hour-a-day fire support system."
- U.S. Marine Captain speaking to a Los Angeles Times reporter

"Without a doubt, Operation Iraqi Freedom brought to the forefront that indirect fires remain the biggest force multiplier and killer on the modern battlefield."
- U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel William G. Pitts; Field Artillery Journal, September - October 2003

"As with most units in the 2nd Marine Division, the regiment is always on the go. We are out there doing everything from infantry to police duty. Now I want to get back to basics. Operation Iraqi Freedom proved that we need artillery in the battle."
- Col. Glenn T. Starnes, U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Marine Division, November 2005

"Artillery, which some soldiers call 'dragon's breath,' also proved highly effective, especially during bad weather that limited air support and in the later stages of the war, when U.S. and Iraqi fighters were often only a few hundred yards apart."
- Excerpt from an April 12, 2003 Los Angeles Times article

"You can't have enough artillery ammunition."
- Marine Corps Officer, 15 Marine Expeditionary Unit, April 2003

"At any rate, things are going well. The Third Infantry Division Artillery is delivering accurate, responsive fires, exactly like the Iraqis can't, and is a big part of why we're winning. For the uninitiated, artillery basically means shooting a big (100-pound) round about 20-30 kilometers to a ten-digit map grid point with about one-meter accuracy. This means that our guys who are out front can see the enemy, not be anywhere near close enough to engage them, but just give us a call on the radio and we can blow them to hell without them ever knowing what happened or, in some cases, our friendly forces even giving away their position. We can do this in any kind of weather (unlike the Air Force) and about 180 seconds after the original radio call comes in."
- U.S. Army Officer, 3rd ID on the road to Baghdad, March 2003

"I met a 21-year-old (U.S) soldier. He'd had his calf partially blown away by an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). He didn't lose his leg, was young, was doing well, and I said what do you do in the Army? He said, 'Well, I'm an artilleryman.' What were you doing in Iraq? 'I was helping Kirkuk develop their municipal government.'

What did you think about that? You were trained to do one thing and you did another. 'Oh, I loved it, I felt like a rock star every time I went to work. All the kids wanted to take their pictures with me. I don't know where a guy 21 years old without a college education can have this kind of impact on a place, but I just loved it.'"
- General Richard B. Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff (Quoted in Arizona Republic, 2005)

For more great artillery quotes and facts see the Classic Artillery Quotes, Battle for Fallujah and Recent Operations sections.