Photo By Staff Sgt. Ryan Wilhoit | U.S. Army Soldier from I. Co. 429th Brigade Support Battalion, Kentucky Army National...... read more read more
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Story by Maj. Michael Reinersman, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
FORT KNOX, Ky. – The crawl-walk-run is the cornerstone of the Army training methodology. Two years removed from deployments to Kosovo and Africa, the "Mountain Warriors" of the 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment have entered the run phase of an intense and comprehensive annual training July 12-26.
Two weeks of annual training ensures that the Mountain Warriors maintain their operational readiness and proficiency in critical battlefield skills which included combat lifesaving techniques, call for fire, radio communications, day and night land navigation, situational training exercises, squad live-fire exercises and weapons qualification.
Mortar live-fire training is a critical phase where Soldiers gaining hands-on experience and learning new crew roles is vital to provide indirect fire support for infantry units.
“This AT emphasizes the team's gelling together and putting senior specialist into team leader positions,” said Staff Sgt. Valentino Velez, mortar platoon sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company. “This approach not only helps in building a strong team but also ensures that our teams are well-prepared to handle bigger exercises at XCTC (Exportable Combat Training Capability), JRTC (Joint Readiness Training Center) or deployments.”
The team leader stands beside the mortar where they can command and control their fire team. In addition to having general oversight of all squad activities, they also supervise the emplacement, aiming point (data), and firing of the weapon.
Spc. Brian Cole, Indirect Fire Infantryman (Mortarman), mortar platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company was one senior specialist to step into the role of team leader during live-fire training with the M253 Cannon.
Cole, a Mount Vernon native, explained the challenges of being a team leader and the importance of safety and stress management.
“Now I understand why the platoon sergeant, team leaders and NCOs stressed safety and were so stressed about the data, know how to check it, and make sure everything is correct when I was junior enlisted,” said Cole. “I can see why they were so forceful of little details. I’m enjoying it, and I’m glad to be doing the job.”
Members of Delta Company conducted Humvee machine gun gunnery tables, both day and night fire, with the M240B and 50-caliber machine gun at Yano Range.
Yano Range is the Army’s newest Digital Air Grounds Integration Range, or DAGIR and just came online in May. As a digital range, the system captured the actions and reactions of Soldiers driving Humvees along lanes while engaging pop-up targets.
Delta Co. commander, Capt. Drake Sullivan is a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a civilian at Fort Knox and worked on upgrading Yano range the last four years.
“It’s exciting for our company to train on a new site that I’ve walked over every inch of this range,” said Sullivan. “I was able to visualize how this range would benefit Soldiers during training.”
Spc. Patrick Ferrell, infantryman, Delta Co., 1-149th explained that the training at Yano Range made him feel confident in his unit's ability to handle any task next year at XCTC.
“We are moving and shooting a lot and it’s building cohesion,” said Ferrell. “It’s not the same lane or scenario on this range, they change it around and we get to acquire different targets day and night.”
Weapons Co. members were also required to qualify as driver, gunner, and truck commander during range operations.
“Overall, we had a lot of hands-on training and had it’s forced us to learn each position in the truck,” said Spc. Payton Covington, an infantryman with Delta Co., 1-149th. “Moving and shooting from a Humvee is a lot of fun.”
With more than 400 Mountain Warriors inside Fort Knox training area, they were supported by India Company, 429th Brigade Support Battalion.
“Logistics is what makes everything go here,” said Capt. Nathan Brashear, commander of I Company, 429th Brigade Support Battalion.
In addition to cooking 1900 meals, I Co. supported the battalion by distributing more than 3200 gallons of fuel, delivering 192,000 rounds of ammunition, and preforming annual maintenance on 25 percent of vehicles in the battalion during annual training.
“Once again, our Soldiers are proving their skills in the field,” said Brashear.
In June, I Company's field kitchen Soldiers took home the Phillip A. Connelly Award as the Army National Guard’s Field Kitchen winner for their excellence in Army Food Service.
| Date Taken: | 07.19.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.28.2024 13:49 |
| Story ID: | 479641 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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