Photo By Sgt. Brian Johnson | Spc. Brian Johnson, from Columbus, loads his shotgun on the shotgun qualification...... read more read more
CAMP PERRY, Ohio - Members of Company A, 216th Engineer Battalion, did their annual weapons qualification this last weekend at Camp Perry, Ohio, with the rest of the 216th Engineer Battalion.
The battalion, based out of Woodlawn, Ohio, has over 600 members and is comprised of soldiers from all around the state, not just southern Ohio. The unit, based out of Chillicothe, has over 120 members who perform various job functions which include soldiers who are carpenters, plumbers, electricians.
On this weekend, everyone, no matter what their job title, gets a chance to fire and qualify with their weapons. This allows a soldier stay familiar with their weapon if they should ever get called into wartime service.
This weapons qualification will be different than previous weapons qualifications. Unit members will get a chance to qualify on not only their M16 rifles, but also 9mm pistols, Shotguns, M249 Automatic Rifles, and even the M203 Grenade Launcher. Instead of firing at paper targets, soldiers fire at pop-up targets.
Weapons qualification consists of a soldier trying to hit at least 23 targets out of 40 targets within a certain amount of time with their M16 rifle with only 40 allowed shots. As easy as this may sound, the targets are of varying distances from 50 meters to 300 meters. Soldiers also have to qualify wearing their protective mask and at night.
Said Capt. Donald Westfall, company commander about the weapons qualification, “It’s one of the most basic soldier skills. Soldiers need to know how to shoot, communicate and move all in an organized fashion. You need to address these skills in order to remain proficient at it. It may seem silly for A Company to have to travel three hours north to Camp Perry to do this since we have a range right in our own back yard here at Camp Sherman. There were many other events happening at the same time up at Camp Perry. It was a chance for the whole battalion to meet again, it was a chance for new officers to test there planning abilities. It was an opportunity to conduct battalion wide operations again, something that hasn’t been done in over a year. It was a very successful drill period for us and I’m proud of all those soldiers who qualified on the ranges."
Sgt. 1st Class Gary Rice, from Wheelersburg said about the range fire, “I enjoy the range fire. It’s a good opportunity for me to get used to my weapon again. It gives new soldiers in the unit to familiarize themselves with weapons that they may have never seen or have fired before. As a platoon sergeant, I use this as a tool to better gauge my soldiers strengths and weaknesses which helps me to better streamline individual soldier training.”
Spc. Christopher Grego, from Canal Winchester said about the range fire, “It’s nice to practice with the pop-up targets. They are definitely more challenging. It really hones my skills with my weapon. It also helps us build camaraderie with each other.”
If you have questions about the weapons qualification, or would like more information about the National Guard, please call 614-336-6832 or 1-800-GO-Guard.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 04.06.2015 15:16 |
| Story ID: | 159217 |
| Location: | CAMP PERRY, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 249 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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