New High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems rolled off aircraft in Hawaii this week. The systems are bound for a new mission with the 25th Infantry Division, also called "Tropic Lightning," which expects to have a total of 16 HIMARS within weeks.
As part of the Army Transformation Initiative, the 25th ID will replace eight existing 105 mm and six 155 mm howitzers with 16 HIMARS launchers that will enhance the division's long-range precision fires capability and strengthen its warfighting readiness that supports the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility.
In late April, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the U.S. Army to implement a transformation and acquisition reform initiative meant to advance President Donald J. Trump's peace through strength agenda.
"To build a leaner, more lethal force, the Army must transform at an accelerated pace by divesting outdated, redundant and inefficient programs, as well as restructuring headquarters and acquisition systems," Hegseth said.
Part of that direction was to prioritize improvements to long-range precision fires and air and missile defense. The Army calls its effort to follow through on that direction the "Army Transformation Initiative."
"As part of [the ATI] we are integrating in [High Mobility Artillery Rocket] systems," said Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, commander, 25th ID. "What this means for the division ... is that we are integrating in long-range precision fires that increases the ability to extend our operational reach."
The new systems make the division more lethal, he said.
"And so now soldiers, instead of working behind a cannon system and towed artillery, they will work with a weapon system that [not only] has increased survivability, but increased operational reach with the range that [HIMARS] have," Evans said.
The integration of HIMARS also allows the division to better protect itself.
"We can shoot and then we can rapidly displace or move to an area that affords us better protection," Evans said.
While the 25th ID has used HIMARS before, it will now for the first time have the capability organic to the division artillery brigade. A lot goes into making that happen, he said.
"As an example [there is] the transition of personnel," Evans said. "There is a transition training course that has to go into effect."
The first HIMARS arrived for the 25th ID on July 14, 2025, and fielding will continue for about six weeks, Evans said.
At the same time the 25th ID is getting HIMARS, it's also getting other transformational enhancements.
"We are also transforming our intelligence, information and electronic warfare battalion into a multi-domain fires battalion that increases their capability to see and sense further than what they've previously been able to do," he said. "All of that will be organic to the division artillery and supporting the division to be able to set conditions for the joint force."
Within the 25th ID Division Artillery Brigade, about 73 soldiers who are already trained in indirect fires volunteered to transition from the 13B military occupational specialty — soldiers who operate howitzers — to the 13M MOS, which is soldiers who operate rocket platforms.
Already, 27 of those 73 have trained with the National Guard as part of transitioning their MOS to learn how to operate the HIMARS.
"We'll continue to complete that process," said Command Sgt. Maj. Sean E. Swint, senior enlisted advisor, 25th ID, Division Artillery. "Just like [they were with the] 105 mm howitzers that ... we had at the Battle of Luzon, today our soldiers are now equipped with HIMARS, a combat-proven platform that just elevates our warfighting readiness in the Pacific."
Those soldiers, said Command Sgt. Maj. Shaun Curry, senior enlisted advisor, 25th ID, are excited about the transformation of their indirect fires mission.
"I think another note ... is the excitement inside of our formation to be a part of something new for our Army," Curry said. "There's been a large drive from these [noncommissioned officers] and junior enlisted service members — they want to stay in the Pacific, they want to stay in Hawaii. But more importantly, they want to be a part of the cutting edge of warfighting for our nation."
After learning to operate HIMARS, a three-week endeavor, the soldiers will go back to their units and begin training for a validation exercise in the fall at Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center.
"As part of JPMRC in the fall, it will validate the DIVARTY formation in a division with HIMARS," Evans said.
The fall exercise will also validate employment of infantry squad vehicles and the increased use of drones on the battlefield, some of which allow for conducting reconnaissance all the way up to 25 miles, he said.
"If you think [about] what is occurring over the last year as part of Army transformation, we have got technology into the hands of soldiers that allows them to see, sense and strike, protect and sustain at a faster rate, increased operational reach, and then now, the Army is aligning long-range fires capability with this technology to enhance the lethality and warfighting readiness of the division," Evans said.
The 25th ID DIVARTY has two battalions with howitzers, including the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment. The howitzers will be consolidated into one of those battalions while the HIMARS will move into the other.
"We transformed and consolidated our cannon artillery systems into a battalion — a single cannon battalion — [with] two batteries of 105 mm howitzers, eight each, and one battery of M777 howitzers [which are] 155 mm. The 2nd Battalion will now become a two-by-eight HIMARS battalion," said Col. Daniel J. VonBenken, commander, 25th ID DIVARTY, which he expects will greatly enhance the unit's ability to support the joint force.
VonBenken asks himself every morning if his formation is more ready and more lethal than the day before.
"In this case, it's clear that the HIMARS weapon system will make us more lethal at the end of the day," he said. "It extends the range to long-range precision fires, while still retaining the capability to win in the close fight with the mobile brigades, with the cannon artillery."
Of the existing howitzers within the 25th ID DIVARTY, eight of the M119, 105 mm guns and six of the M777, 155 mm guns are marked for divestiture.
The Army received official direction in April to move on transformation initiatives and now, less than three months later, the 25th ID is fielding new capabilities that tick the lethality box so important to the defense secretary and president.
"In terms of how we've been able to move quickly, we have been enabled by Army senior leaders and then ultimately good soldiers, noncommissioned officer leadership, that have been able to attack this problem set, outline a plan and be prepared to transition to receive this equipment," Evans said.
Curry said he credits Army headquarters, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, leadership within the artillery brigade and the National Guard for making it possible to get the best soldiers from across the Army on board at 25th ID to make the transition to HIMARS, and to also train existing soldiers within the division.
"We've used our high performers here in the 25th and used our National Guard partners to help us train. ... They're some of our most experienced rocketeers in the Army," Curry said. "By combination of those ... four entities, we've been able to move with the education process as rapidly as we have."