Photo By Sgt. Robert Douglas | Arizona National Guard Specialist Rito Chacon scans his firing lane before loading and...... read more read more
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When called upon, artillery fire can make the difference between victory and defeat on a battlefield. These units, made up of Soldiers that spend days, weeks or even longer in the field take every opportunity available to train and be ready for that moment when they are needed.
One such unit, the Arizona National Guard 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment, Mortar Platoon, will take part in just such a field training exercise as part of Operation Northern Strike 17 during the first two weeks of August 2017 in order to ensure they continue to be ready.
This exercise, taking place in northern Michigan and operated by the Michigan National Guard at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, will help the Mortar Platoon sharpen the skills they have in coordination with approximately 5,000 service members from 13 states and five coalition countries.
One of the leaders of the Mortar Platoon, First Lieutenant Grant Buben, who joined the unit in 2012 and has been with the Mortar Platoon since 2014, believes training exercises such as Exercise Northern Strike 17 allow his unit to perform to their full potential.
“Our overall mission is to support Operation Northern Strike 17 with indirect fire whenever we get calls from any of the other units here” said Buben.
The powerful weapons they operate allow the Mortar Platoon, and other artillery units, to provide indirect fire that can have a devastating effect on the battlefield.
“We can suppress a platoon, a company and even attempt to block a battalion of enemies with these weapons” said 1st Lt. Buben. “We have both 60 millimeter and 120 millimeter mortars that can cover an area approximately 600 meters wide and impact a much bigger space.”
With a need for such a large amount of space to conduct their training, coupled with this being the first time training at Camp Grayling for many of the Mortar Platoon Soldiers, the Soldiers that operate the mortars themselves like Specialist Adolfo Melendez, have found the training facilities more than meet their needs.
“We only have one live fire training range in Arizona,” said Melendez, “so it’s great to be here and getting the training we need on such a large scale.”
Another part of the team with Melendez, Specialist Rito Chacon, agrees with that assessment.
“When our individual platoon or squad gets a fire mission and carries it out we have to be ready in seconds when those orders come through and this kind of training helps us to be ready for those missions,” said Chacon.
Operation Northern Strike 17, and the Mortar Platoons participation, demonstrates the Michigan National Guard’s ability to provide accessible, readiness-building opportunities for military units from all service branches to achieve and sustain proficiency in conducting mission command, air, sea, and ground maneuver integration, together with the synchronization of fires in a joint, multinational, decisive action environment.
| Date Taken: | 08.03.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2017 20:25 |
| Story ID: | 243653 |
| Location: | GRAYLING, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 176 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Arizona National Guard Fires into Michigan to Train, by SGT Robert Douglas, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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