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155 Paladin

Photo By Matt Acosta | Army Pfc. Robert Waid, field artillery cannon crewmember, Battery B, 1st Battalion,...... read more read more

09.21.2005

Courtesy Story

22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Staff Sgt. Matthew Acosta
22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORWARD OPERATING BASE PALIWODA, Balad, Iraq-Coalition Forces around Forward Operating Base Paliwoda can rest assured that when they are out on patrol and need an extra punch of firepower, they can rely on a crew of Soldiers to place deadly high-explosive precision fire on a target without seeing it, day or night.

The nine-man crew of the 8th Howitzer Section, Battery B, 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Liberty, is on call 24 hours a day safeguarding the lives of those in need, with the help of the M109-A6 Paladin, the Army's medium self-propelled howitzer.

"Our mission is to provide quick fire support for units that need it, but we have the ability to send illumination rounds over a targeted area for support on night operations or to just let the insurgents know we're watching them," said Staff Sgt. Jason Massey, howitzer section chief.

The crew is also called upon to fire periodic terrain denial missions and counterfire missions toward the point of origin of incoming mortar rounds or rockets.

"When we see the insurgents firing from the same firing point, setting a trend, we periodically fire rounds on the coordinates to prevent the enemy from using it," Massey said. "And when we have rounds impact on the FOB, we return fire at the point where they fired from."

The unit has also been called upon to fire white-phosphorous rounds into wooded areas to clear it of concealment the enemy might use.

With the ability to send a 138-pound laser-guided, high explosive, anti-tank warhead over 30 kilometers, the area of fire-support coverage includes several other Coalition Forces bases in the Balad area.

Although the Paladin is mobile, it's mostly used as a stationary piece. In the event it might be used for the combat support role outside its range, the tracked vehicle gun is driven closer to the intended target.

"With this capability," Massey said, "we can be rolling down the road and get a fire mission from the fire direction center over the computer."

Massey said that the crew can stop the vehicle and it will calibrate the gun to the vehicle's position on the terrain, turn in the direction of the target, fire and then continue driving down the road.

When the Soldiers aren't firing artillery rounds, they're maintaining the weapon system keeping it in precise firing condition and temperature.

"Keeping the gun ready to fire is almost a precise science," Massey said.

Since the propellant used in the artillery piece is temperature sensitive, it must be checked on a constant basis.

According to Pfc. Robert Waid, field artillery cannon crewmember, if the powder is cool, the round may fall short of a specified target than if it were calibrated for warmer powder.

"The powder will burn quicker if heated and slower if cooled, so the temperature must be put into the targeting computer for precise calculations to hit a target," said Waid.

Massey said once the FDC gets a request for fire, using the targeting computer and database, it relays the fire coordinates, specifies the particular round and powder charge to the gun's computer through a satellite link, which is confirmed by the gun's crew, then the Howitzer is fired.

Whether they receive a call for fire support to suppress an insurgent attack, return incoming fire or to fire illumination flares to aid in night combat operations, the crew responds within a moments notice.

"From the time the call for fire comes in, we can have rounds splashing (impacting) down on target in under a minute," said Pfc. Andrew Ponton, field artillery cannon crewmember.

Massey said they normally focus on maintaining the vehicles, cleaning weapons or training.

"Sometimes we do crew drills and other training, right now we're preparing Soldiers for the board," he added, 'taking care of Soldier business."

But no matter how important a job the crew might be doing while on call, everything comes to a rapid halt when a mission is called in.

"We can be doing anything, but when someone calls for fire, we immediately drop what we're doing and head to the gun," Massey said. "The mission comes first."

Massey said the counterfire missions can be sporadic.

"We have had five counterfire missions in one day and then gone days without firing a single round," he added.

The crew of four works in unison to complete fire missions in the confined space of the vehicle, rotating jobs every few weeks.

During a fire mission, the crew chief monitors the radio and fire control computer for communications with the FDC and supervises the crew working the gun, while the driver manages the engine/ hydraulic systems that power the gun also logging the outgoing rounds.

Cannoneer one sets the timer delay on the round if needed and loads the round in the breech. After the gunner loads the powder and closes the breech, he rechecks the chief's fire control computer coordinates. The number one man primes the charge and fires the weapon on the chief's command.

With a reload time of less than 30 seconds, the crew can send a volley of three rounds out, ranging from just outside the FOB walls to several miles away in under a minute and a half.

To date, the unit has fired over 935 rounds with over 190 fire missions, since they arrived in Iraq in January, on call day and night, seven days a week, 24-hours a day in support of Coalition Forces operations.