Photo By Sgt. Shiloh Capers | Fort Hood, Texas ̶ The 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, discuss ground force...... read more read more
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Fort Hood, Texas ̶ 1-227th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, helped conduct a joint fires control exercise between Division Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division, the 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, and 9th Air Support Operations Squadron, on Fort Hood, July 19.
The exercise consisted of 9th ASOS reporting and updating the 1-227 aircrew on battlefield placement and air restrictions and as acting as the ultimate authority for if the Apaches could fire their 30mm cannon or 2.75 inch Hydra rockets. DIVARTY and 2-14th Marines were the ground forces engaging the targets during the exercise.
Battle staffing and battle plans were the primary focus into piecing together the joint operation, said Maj. Wayne Griffin, battalion operations officer, 1-227 ARB.
The fire control exercise was a chance to utilize joint capabilities, which was completed through combined attacks, close air support missions and conducting advanced aerial gunnery.
“I feel that aviation, when it comes to field artillery, we kind of neglect that relationship sometimes,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rijos, brigade targeting officer, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. “We need to continue to integrate the Apaches with the fires in order to be more successful in the future.”
1-227th worked with the Marine unit to initiate and call for fires. Pilots within 1-227’s Apaches observe and acquire the target and that information is relayed to Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS). The information is pushed to the Marines, who then engage the target with High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
“1st Attack is probably one of the most lethal attack battalions in the Army right now,” Griffin said. “They have consistently combined gunnery with every major banner event they’ve conducted, from Pegasus Forge operations to our Apache version 6 JAGM testing.”
While the exercise could be considered the current end state by which to measure 1-227’s overall combat readiness, it also provided the battalion the opportunity to develop another aspect for the battlefield.
The Marines use a high frequency comms architecture, their primary means of communication, with the HIMARS while DIVARTY operates a different system. Lately, Divarty has experimented with building that high frequency network interaction for their own use.
The 2-14th Marine Regiment was able to provide a portion of the network structure, enough so that 1-227 was able to get a read into the system and help DIVARTY process the network and create an SOP for it.
“It was incredibly important, this opportunity to train on a different kind of radio system. It allows us to increase our communications capability across the battlefield, increases our range,” said Capt. Ian Birthelmer, Fires Safety Officer, 1-227. “It also helps us become more familiar with working with the joint force as well, improving our readiness and adding to our lethality.”
| Date Taken: | 07.29.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2019 12:20 |
| Story ID: | 333875 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 148 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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