Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Hohman | Artillerymen with 3rd Platoon, B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery...... read more read more
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Artillerymen race against the clock as they position their M7774A Howitzer and prepare to fire. Luckily for the enemy, the click of a stopwatch is heard instead of the deafening boom of artillery.
The artillerymen with 3rd Platoon, B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, completed their semi-annual certification live fire exercise with the M7774A Howitzer at Forward Operating Base Pasab, Afghanistan, July 21-23.
Certification is the process used to ensure artillery sections are fully prepared to perform their vital mission of providing timely and accurate fires with lethal and nonlethal munitions to hit predetermined targets or support units engaged in direct combat with the enemy.
“All Soldiers take the artillery skills proficiency test,” said Sgt. Bobby Thomas, who serves as a section chief with 3rd platoon. “The test is an evaluation of where they stand on general artillery knowledge.”
The eight-man section must perform a bi-annual recertification to prove they are fully trained in every aspect of the howitzer. The section chief, ammunition team chief, gunner and assistant gunner, all must successfully pass a second test.
“The top four have to take the safety test,” said Thomas. “The test consists of a higher level of in-depth safety requirements and a more in-depth understanding of how to use the [howitzer].”
After the written exam the artillerymen put their knowledge to the test in the motor pool exam.
The motor pool exam tests a crew’s execution of individual timed tasks such as the disassembly and reassembly of the breach block and firing mechanism, their ability to quickly occupy an area and prepare their howitzer to be sling loaded for quick movement.
“These are all tests that take a very small amount of time, but are testing your ability to react quickly to an issue on a gun,” said Thomas. “If you had an issue with the breach, how fast can a guy in a fire mission break that breach down and replace the parts?”
The final stage of certification is the live firing of the howitzer with and without digital support.
“We will go through numerous degraded fire missions, where we will not worry about anything digitally,” said Thomas. “We will strictly use our gunners sight.”
Certification drills while deployed remain important even though artillery sections perform many of these duties on a daily basis in a combat environment.
“It's important to recertify even in theater because our current mission does not call for direct fire and rigging of the howitzer for an air assault mission as an example,” said Sgt. 1st Class Clinton Stanfield, who serves as the platoon sergeant for 3rd platoon. “By maintaining bi-annual certifications we keep all of our skills sharp.”
Thomas took steps to ensure his section was ready for any scenario.
“To prepare for the certification, I coordinated with our fire direction cell so we could preform a lot of dry fire missions,” said Thomas. “We focused on the crawl, walk and run phases of training.”
The crawl, walk, run training model enables individuals and teams to master skills by showing, doing and executing.
“We would perform each step of the fire mission [at a slow pace] so I could stop individuals and we could make corrections,” said Thomas. “During the walk phase we will speed it up, not to fast, to make sure they don’t lose their understanding of what is going on.”
After mastering their skills the section moves into the final phase.
“Then we move onto the run phase, so they know everything from their job [to] the job above them and the job under them,” said Thomas.
Ensuring the artillerymen have the knowledge and ability to execute tasks above and below their scope of duty gives the section the confidence to successfully execute their mission in any situation.
“[Thomas] has demonstrated the ability to perform at the level of a seasoned chief,” said Stanfield. “Due to his leadership and tireless training drills, his section has grown and raised the bar of a Top Gun Section.”
After the section completed their certification, the artillerymen proved they are well trained and prepared for any task.
“All of 3rd Platoon did excellent during certifications,” said Stanfield. “From day one they have executed every mission with strength and honor.”
| Date Taken: | 07.25.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 07.27.2012 11:36 |
| Story ID: | 92255 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR, AF |
| Web Views: | 272 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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