Photo By Senior Chief Petty Officer Ryan Wilber | Petty Officer 3rd Class Katherine Gardour, builder, assigned to Naval Mobile...... read more read more
BARBATE, Spain - Seventy-four Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 returned from a live-fire crew-served weapons exercise at the Sierra del Retin weapons range near Barbate, Spain, April 20.
The Seabees transported M-240 and M-2HB machine guns, and MK-19 automatic grenade launchers from the Camp Mitchell, Spain Armory to the range for the three-day exercise. According to Gunnery Sgt. Jason Neale, NMCB 74’s military advisor, the range served a dual purpose: sustainment for those previously qualified and familiarization for those new to the weapons systems.
“You have to get the people qualified and trained up initially on the weapons, and then you have to make the time for sustainment training. These are perishable skills. If you don’t use them they go away, they become rusty, they atrophy. If you don’t get out there and exercise them, you don’t sustain the knowledge, if you don’t keep up your training then those skills go away, and the next time you need to use them you are starting from ground zero vice having maintained a level of performance,” said Neale.
Neale also stressed the importance of automatic weapons to a defensive unit such as an NMCB, and the ability of Seabees to properly employ and maintain them in the field.
“Crew served-weapons provide the backbone of the defense. Everything you do with your fire plan, site selection, it all boils down to the most effective use of your crew-served weapons. The 240-B, .50 cal, the MK-19, although they all have their own uses they all are vitally important to the defense, so being able to employ them and have a good working knowledge of their use, maintenance, marksmanship, the whole deal is vitally important to a defensive unit,” said Neale.
For many, living in their one-man tents and sustaining on Meals Ready to Eat served to break up the monotony that often accompanies deployment, and also offering a unique opportunity to learn from Neale and the range coaches.
“I think it was a great range. I think everyone who was out there really liked it. The morale was up out there, because we were away from the camp. We were able to get away and do our own thing for a little while, get away from the daily grind, which is always nice. They [the shooters] were ready to learn and we didn’t have any problems instructing them,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Zach Cirocco, a construction mechanic and a range coach.
Two of the shooters, Petty Officer 3rd Class Courtney Demastus, a construction electrician, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Trevor Shultz, a construction mechanic, cited familiarization as what they most got from the experience and said they felt the range was a success for them and the other Seabees involved. Neale, however, warns that success cannot be determined until the same Seabees get behind the weapons again in the future and demonstrate what they learned at the range today.
“We got on the range, put rounds down range, we came back with 100-percent accountability of personnel and equipment, and with no injuries. Those are the short-term successes of the range. If we come back in another month and start doing some machine gun training here on Camp Mitchell, and the people we took out to the range retained the knowledge, they can tell me the stuff we taught them, they can tell me the stuff they learned while they were actually performing with the weapon then the range will be deemed a success,” said Neale.
| Date Taken: | 04.20.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2011 07:09 |
| Story ID: | 69419 |
| Location: | BARBATE, ES |
| Web Views: | 942 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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