Courtesy Photo | Spc. Shannon McEntyre, a mortar gunner with Company C, 1st “Dragon” Battalion,...... read more read more
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By 1st Lt. Douglas Bengal
BAGHDAD—In the sweltering heat of Iraq, on Joint Security Station Muthana, two squads of mortarmen with Company C, 1st “Dragon” Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Division – Center hover wordlessly over their disassembled mortar systems—the calm before the storm.
The Company C mortarmen were engaged in training on ground-mounted mortars, meaning that the mortars are not attached to a vehicle. After a round of training, some Soldiers were examined on their capabilities in setting up bipods and calibrating sights.
A sharp command of “Action!” breaks the tension and 10 Soldiers burst into a frenzy of activity. The crunch of gravel and clink of metal fill the air as ammunition bearers carry the 110-pound 120-mm mortar tubes and lock them into their 136-pound baseplates.
Assistant gunners spread the legs of bipods to their maximum width and swing clamps around the mortar tubes’ collar stops, fastening them. The braces are just enough to support a weapon with a bore-equivalent to that of an M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.
"There is a lot of teamwork that goes into setting up these mortars,” said Sgt. Daniel Schilling, a squad leader with Company C and a Burnet, Texas, native.
Gunners work the sight on the weapon like a Rubik’s cube, their practiced hands setting the standard deflection and elevation. Mortarmen then stand aside, briefly, as the selected shooter for this iteration moves forward. He deftly connects the sight-unit to the bipod, hands moving in a frenzy, manipulating elevation and cross-level mechanisms until the two crucial bubbles on different axes level-out.
Finally satisfied, the shooter shouts ‘Gun up!” to the inspecting noncommissioned officers. The entire squad backs away from their tube, hands up and palms held outward to avoid the perception they had any contact with the mortar system after the shooter’s words were spoken.
"It’s great that we are getting hands-on practice on everything,” said Pfc. Justin Tijerina, a mortarman with Company C and a Mineral, Va., native. “It’s not something we get to do a lot."
After a careful inspection of the mortar setup, Schilling repeated the call of ‘Gun up!” and Tijerina, the shooter, earned an expert qualification in this practice run.
“He did a great job,” Schilling said of Tijerina. “These young Soldiers continually impress me.”
Schilling’s quiet, but much-desired pronouncement of “Good job, out of action,” sets the squads to disassembling and repositioning their systems, each Soldier switching to a different role for another iteration.
“We get to familiarize ourselves with a setup that we don’t work with while utilizing the [mortar vehicles],” said Spc. Shannon McEntyre, a gunner with Company C and an Omega, Ga., native. “Before this intensive training we all knew our jobs, but now, we are learning others’ positions and working in different setting.” It’s an opportunity to hone perishable skills.
The training continues until after the sun sets, and small tritium lights are fixed to the candy-cane patterned red and white aiming stakes with which gunners align their sights. Calls of “Deflection!” and “Elevation!” echo throughout JSS Muthana’s perimeter well into the night.
“Working on ground-mounted mortars is what is really going to makes these soldiers proficient,” said Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Eaken, a section sergeant with Company C and a Summerville, S.C., native. “With the training they’re receiving, they will go to their future units better prepared and more comfortable with these systems than their peers.”
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.28.2011 06:26 |
| Story ID: | 71244 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 70 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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