Photo By Staff Sgt. Patrick Caldwell | The crew of Delta 34, assigned to Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry...... read more read more
ORCHARD COMBAT TRAINING CENTER, Idaho – Teamwork paid off in a big way last month for the crew of an M1-A2 SEP tank assigned to Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, Oregon Army National Guard.
The crew of Delta 34 – tank commander Sgt. 1st Class Miguel Munoz; gunner Staff Sgt. Johnny Barnes; Pfc. Kyle Crader, loader and driver Spc. Jeffery Benefiel – finished out the critical Table 6 tank gunnery qualification range with a decisive score of 978 out of a possible 1,000.
The final score earned the tank crew top gun honors for the 3rd Battalion during its 2013 Annual Training cycle.
“That is unheard of. It is as close to perfect as you can get,” Delta Company commander Capt. Jamie Rosco of Silver Lake, Ore., said.
The key to success, Munoz said, was simple: Teamwork.
“We happened to work well together,” Munoz said.
Barnes said another important element to success was preparation.
“Sgt. 1st Class Munoz and I spent countless hours in the gunners training system. And another big thing was attention to detail, you know, like crew fire commands. We practiced and practiced,” he said.
The fact that the crew was able to train as a team for a long period of time – in Delta 34’s case, a year – also paid off during the crucial Table 6 qualification day and night runs.
“It was really experience tied to the crew meshing together,” Barnes said.
Still the 2013 Annual Training period was the first live gunnery test for Delta 34 as a crew, Munoz said.
The crew of Delta 34 did not reach its ultimate goal of first-time qualification on Table 6 without some hiccups along the way, however.
During its run down the Table 5 gunnery range, known as a “gate table,” the crew did not perform as well as expected.
“We had a lot of little things hit us all at once,” Barnes said of the Table 5 experience.
The disappointment during Table 5 put added pressure on the crew as it prepared for the critical Table 6 qualification range.
“The night before (Table 6) I couldn’t sleep,” Barnes said.
Munoz, a resident of Tualatin, Ore., said he was aware his gunner was concerned about the upcoming Table 6 run.
“I could tell he was nervous,” Munoz said.
As it turned out, all the worry was for nothing as Delta 34 waded through both the day and night phase of Table 6 to shoot the highest score in the battalion.
“It feels awesome,” Munoz said.
Still, Munoz and Barnes both said the success they achieved on Table 6 was because of the unity of the crew.
“We could not have done it without the other guys,” Munoz said.
Barnes, from Boardman, Ore., agreed.
“The loader has to be spot on. I didn’t have to worry about that main gun round being loaded,” he said.
The other two members of the crew, Crader and Benefiel, said the triumph on Table 6 was directly connected to how Barnes and Munoz performed as leaders.
“They helped us quite a bit in getting crew cohesion,” Crader, who lives in Pendleton, Ore., said.
Munoz said that the top gun accolades were a vindication for him personally.
“I was lucky. This is a dream crew,” he said.
Delta Company is based in Hermiston, Ore. The 3rd Battalion consists of citizen-soldier units from Woodburn, Hood River, Hermiston, Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City and Ontario, Ore.
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2013 19:28 |
| Story ID: | 111981 |
| Location: | HERMISTON, OR, US |
| Hometown: | BENTON CITY, WA, US |
| Hometown: | BOARDMAN, OR, US |
| Hometown: | PASCO, WA, US |
| Hometown: | PENDLETON, OR, US |
| Hometown: | SILVER LAKE, OR, US |
| Hometown: | TUALATIN, OR, US |
| Web Views: | 322 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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