Photo By 1st Lt. Tracci Dorgan | The 178th Field Artillery, South Carolina Army National Guard, conducts their annual...... read more read more
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HINESVILLE, Ga. - The 178th Field Artillery (FA) Battalion, South Carolina Army National Guard trained at Fort Stewart for their annual training (AT), March 17-27, with the main focus on practicing the skills of manual gunnery.
“Our mission this ATs is to train on and demonstrate our proficiency in manual gunnery,” said Lt. Col. Alan McLeod, commander for the 178th FA. “It's a perishable skill that is not used in most live gunnery. With recent deployments having the focus on non-standard missions, the craft has suffered.”
“The reason for doing the manual gunnery is to understand the ‘why’ of the ‘how’, of the Paladin A6 system. With understanding comes memory and with retention comes proficiency,” said Sgt. 1st Class Bud Rinehardt, master gunner for the 178th FA. He mentioned that when young soldiers are coming into the unit, they do not spend enough time on the why behind all the theories because the how is done for them with computers and instruments. Going back to the basics helps them understand their skills even more. “It also prepares them for the inevitable time when computers and technical systems break down,” added Rinehardt.
Soldiers in the unit are given specialized tasks, but they must all work together to be successful, and have the ability to make the mission happen using no computerized systems.
“Doing the manual gunnery is a great opportunity for all the Soldiers,” said 1st Sgt. Charlie Coleman, operations sergeant for the Headquarters and Headquartes Battery, 178th FA. “In the unlikely event that technology goes down we can still complete our mission successfully. I have noticed the morale has increased since the soldiers were given the opportunity to practice. They seem more confident in their skills.”
“I have received a lot of new guidance on plotting the direction and range to targets during the past few days. It has been challenging, but I understand the importance of not relying on computers,” said Spc. Timothy Dietrich, fire direction control specialist for B Battery 178th FA.
“I feel much more confident in my understanding of the units mission. I had the opportunity to learn about other positions, and improve what I knew about mine,” said Spc. John Miller, #1 Cannonier for A Battery, 178th FA.
“With technology always improving, many field artillery units have been improving right along with it, but the manual way of plotting targets cannot be forgotten,” added
McLeod.
| Date Taken: | 04.01.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.01.2014 15:27 |
| Story ID: | 123580 |
| Location: | HINESVILLE, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 133 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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