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The 280mm Atomic Cannon was fielded by the U.S. Army in Germany
during 1957 - 1963. The 3AD did not have had such a weapon assigned
to it directly; i. e., as a part of its Division Artillery (DIVARTY).
The DIVARTY had the mission of providing support to the units
of the division, and a large weapon such as this would not have
been appropriate for the close support mission. 280mm guns were
assigned to a battalion of the Corps Artillery, such as the one
mentioned in this website's article on the gun.
Corps Artillery units are sometimes given missions called
"reinforcing" or "general support-reinforcing,"
in which the Corps Commander retains a degree of control over
the unit while allowing another artillery unit commander to have
some priority on the availability of the unit's fires. The 280mm
unit, being exclusively nuclear capable, probably would not even
be given such a mission because the DIVARTY commander whose unit
it would be reinforcing would only be able to use it for nuclear
fires; it would not be able to contribute the much more needed
conventional fires. Although the 280mm unit might have been given
a general support-reinforcing mission, it most likely was deployed
to Grafenwoehr with the 3AD for convenience in logistical support.
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