Photo By Staff Sgt. Kelly Carlton | OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea - The students who completed the Patriot Master Gunner...... read more read more
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea – U.S. Army air defenders from South Korea and Japan graduated from the Patriot Master Gunner Course, May 25, 2016, at a ceremony held at the Osan Air Base Enlisted Club, where their senior leaders and Family members were in attendance.
The 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade hosted the coveted air defense course which lasted nearly three months.
“This course gives the noncommissioned officers a mastery of Patriot tactics, techniques and procedures,” Chief Warrant Officer Four Robert Sauerwein, 35th ADA Brigade Standardization Officer said. “This course produces noncommissioned officers who enhance the readiness of units by giving commanders a Soldier, or Soldiers with graduate-level knowledge to enable gunnery training and operational success.”
Although the curriculum was rigorous, the ability to share knowledge among ADA peers has a lasting impact in this specialized Army career field.
“Personnel are able to share experiences and knowledge throughout the course. Sharing experiences often provides a more relatable understanding for the students,” Sauerwein said.
A student, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Calhoun, the battalion master evaluator with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1-1 ADA, located on Kadena Air Base, Japan, brought another perspective to sharing knowledge.
“I have a wealth of knowledge I didn’t have before attending. This whole course is guided toward the Patriot Fire Control Enhanced Maintainer/Operators and I’m a launcher guy who doesn’t work on those tactics,” Calhoun said. “This course has helped the entire class because everybody brings something different to the table. The fire control guys bring their tactics knowledge and the launcher guys bring tactics from the down range operations piece – explosives, launcher and reload operations, and missile storage. It’s been great to combine all of those pieces.”
The PMG has a reputation of being very difficult and course instructor Norman Harvey with 30th ADA Brigade headquartered at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, explained one aspect.
“With the addition of the younger audience made up mostly with sergeants and sergeants-promotable, we have found they are very knowledgeable on the actual systems,” Harvey said. “The issue with this audience is that they haven’t been exposed to briefing at the higher levels of leadership and staff. Many of them have the system knowledge but are quite challenged with standing up in front of higher ranking people and having the ability to articulate what they know.”
The ceremony’s guest speaker, Col. Mark Holler, commander, 35th ADA Brigade, has risen in the ranks as an ADA officer and knows the importance of having subject matter experts in his formations.
He spoke to the graduates about their success and the newfound responsibilities they also shoulder.
“To earn the title of master, one must be totally dedicated and committed to becoming a skilled practitioner; to develop an expert proficiency in a very complex craft,” Holler said. “You have earned the title of master and you should be proud of what you have accomplished here in the last three months. Now it is your turn to coach, teach, and lead others.”
The ADA mission here in the Korean Theater of Operations is often viewed as the most critical for air defenders and it had an impact on the PMG course.
“The sense of urgency with the real world mission here in Korea helps reinforce how the enemy acts as well as how to configure the system,” Harvey said. “Holding the class here offered a lot more exposure to the Forces Command, Eighth Army and Pacific Command sides of the house versus our training-focused environment back at Fort Sill. We didn’t change the course structure to meet the mission here in Korea. We taught the same generalized courses we always teach, although we did introduce additional information that we found out about while in Korea which helped drive home the relevance of the doctrine.”
As Holler closed, his message to the graduates was a call-to-task as they maneuver throughout the ADA community.
“You have just begun on a new road in your professional journey. Your expertise must continue to expand and evolve within our changing complex environment,” Holler said. “If you remember anything today remember that you must insist on being empowered to do your job. You cannot take no for an answer. You must apply your skills and your expertise for the betterment of your battalion or battery.”
Graduates of Class 043-ASIT4 Patriot Master Gunner Team 701-16:
Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Calhoun, HHB, 1-1 ADA, Kadena Air Base, Japan
Sgt. 1st Class Didric Miller, HHB, 6-52 ADA, Suwon Air Base, South Korea
Staff Sgt. Shawn Deater, C Battery, 6-52 ADA, Osan Air Base, South Korea
Staff Sgt. Gregorio Estrada, HHB, 2-1 ADA, Camp Carroll, South Korea
Staff Sgt. Steven Rodriguez, B Battery, 2-1 ADA, Camp Carroll, South Korea
Staff Sgt. Aaron Smith, D Battery, 1-1 ADA, Kadena Air Base, Japan
Staff Sgt. Jameson Willprecht, B Battery, 2-1 ADA, Camp Carroll, South Korea
Staff Sgt. Robert Young, HHB, 1-1 ADA, Kadena Air Base, Japan
Sgt. William Buckley, HHB, 1-1 ADA, Kadena Air Base, Japan
Sgt. Nathaniel Dunlap, HHB, 1-1 ADA, Kadena Air Base, Japan
Sgt. Christopher Pabst, C Battery, 2-1 ADA, Camp Carroll, South Korea
Sgt. Israel Rodriguez, HHB 2-1 ADA, Camp Carroll, South Korea
| Date Taken: | 05.25.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.26.2016 07:06 |
| Story ID: | 199114 |
| Location: | OSAN AIR BASE, KR |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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