COMBAT AVIATION BRIGADE CONDUCTS BRIGADE LEVEL GUNNERY

Photo By Staff Sgt. Tanjie Daniels | Soldiers from 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, wait for a team of UH-60 Black hawks, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 501st Assault Helicopter Battalion, Combat Aviation Brigade, to extract them after performing an air assault at McGregor Training Complex, July 14. The air assault was a part of CAB gunnery exercise. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Tanjie Daniels, Combat Aviation Brigade, Public Affairs)  

FORT BLISS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES

07.14.2017

Story by Staff Sgt. Tanjie Daniels 

1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade

Army doctrine describes the goal of gunnery training as producing “qualified crews and units by training critical skills that facilitate individual, aircrew and collective teamwork.”
“In addition to the Army’s requirement for aircraft weapon systems validation, gunnery is a scored/validated event that provides the commander a realistic view of the unit’s proficiency, lethality and challenges,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steve Donahue, Command Chief Warrant Officer of the CAB.
The combined training event incorporated multiple units here on Fort Bliss including Infantry Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team who conducted an air assault along with Troops from 3rd Brigade Combat Team who operated Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
“Ultimately we all have the same goals and objectives,” said O’Connor, in reference to working alongside the other brigades. “The Challenge is synchronizing all the other requirements and resources available to train together.”
The brigade met multiple training objectives to include crew and aircraft weapon system qualification and proficiency, effective/accurate combat identification, unit logistics, and progressing from team, company, battalion, to combined live-fire maneuver, said Donahue.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Siani, a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot with 3rd Battalion, 501st Assault Helicopter Battalion said he was grateful for the opportunity to participate in gunnery of this magnitude.
“We do platoon and company level gunnery often but it’s rare that we get to do a brigade level one. So having everyone concentrate on their personal duties and mastering those and then getting a chance to see where it fits into the bigger plan is really important,” said Siani. “It lets you know that the things you’ve done on a unit level are good because they can integrate into the way the rest of the brigade is working.”
“Gunnery is extremely important for us because it really enables us to integrate our fires with our maneuver and allows is to become the extremely lethal force that we’re designed to be,” said O’Connor.

• Date Taken: 07.14.2017
• Date Posted: 07.20.2017 15:38
• Story ID: 241925
• Location: FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US