Vanguard ‘Patriots’ complete mission in eastern Afghanistan

LOGAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

10.18.2013

Courtesy Story

4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – U.S. Army artillerymen from 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team “Vanguard," 3rd Infantry Division, were recognized at an end of tour ceremony, Oct. 18, on Forward Operating Base Shank as their mission of providing supporting fires to the Vanguard Brigade and advising Afghan National Army soldiers comes to an end.

The Patriot Battalion deployed 50 soldiers to Forward Operating Base Shank March 3, 2013.

Soon after their arrival, 13 members of the detachment partnered with the ANA’s 4th Kandak, 203rd Corps Field Artillery Battery to increase the 4th Brigade’s fires competencies. Thirty-seven others were instrumental in providing radar, meteorological support, fires, and fire support to the Vanguard Brigade’s combat units as they supported ANA ground forces to fight the enemies of Afghanistan.

During the end of tour ceremony, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Matthew McCollum, from Columbus, S.C, and the 4-3 Brigade Special Troops Battalion commander, and Col. Kimo Gallahue, the 4th IBCT commander, a native of Frankfort, Ky., highlighted the battalion’s accomplishments. These accomplishments included safely and accurately firing almost 130 missions, totaling nearly 500 rounds.

Throughout the deployment the “Filthy Fifty," as they call themselves, provided counter-fire, illumination fires, direct supporting fires for troops in contact, and interdiction fires against insurgents emplacing rockets and improvised explosive devices.

They stood ready to respond with counter-fire on every enemy indirect fire attack on FOB Shank. Within seconds of the battery radar section acquiring enemy fire, the battery fire direction center was calculating accurate firing data to send to the howitzer section. After receiving the technical firing solution from the FDC, the howitzer section, with ammo in hand, stood ready to fire on command. The howitzer section was trained and certified to fire two versions of the weapon system depending on the type of mission they received.

“The soldiers within Alpha Battery continuously impress me with their versatility, resiliency and commitment,” stated U.S. Army Capt. Michael Wisser, the Battery A, 1-76 FA commander, and a Pittsburgh native. “Through a wide variety of missions the battery was able to consistently place first round effects on targets throughout Logar and Wardak provinces, achieve a 90 percent acquisition rate on the most heavily attacked forward operating base in Afghanistan, and most importantly create Afghan sustainable systems to provide fire support to Afghan National Security Forces.”

Wisser also stated it was the determination and dedication of the noncommissioned officers and soldiers that made the battery’s operations a tremendous success. Alpha Battery moved a M119 Howitzer by helicopter from Forward Operating Base Shank to Combat Outpost Sultan Kheyl to provide fires in support of ground combat operations.

According to U.S. Army Maj. Jeff Ivey, a native of Mobile, Ala., and the senior field artillerymen deployed with the Vanguard Brigade, “Success of the Afghan National Army may eventually come down to their ability to plan, synchronize, and integrate fires into operations. As coalition forces continue to remove combat power from Afghanistan, the Afghan army will become more and more dependent on their organic fires assets and less reliant on coalition force capabilities.”

When the soldiers of the Patriot Battalion arrived in Logar province, Afghanistan, the ANA D-30 Battery had recently learned how to shoot in indirect fire mode, were completely reliant of coalition forces for training, and barely had the equipment to conduct basic operations. Trained ANA forward observers, fires support officers, and fires support noncommissioned officers, were hard to find.

With assistance from the Patriots, the 4th Brigade, 203rd Corps, doubled their D-30 combat power, can now conduct split-battery operations across multiple provinces, consistently make mission-time standards, and have significantly increased their overall sustainment capabilities in terms of ammunition management, maintenance, and logistics resupply. Additionally, they fielded an abundance of equipment needed to provide more accurate artillery fire.

High payoff training events such as the D-30 Master Gunner Program, the Fire Direction Center Digital Master Gunner Program, the Fire Support Master Trainer Program, and Air-to-Ground Integration training has drastically increased their training and operational capabilities. After completing AGI training, members of the Patriot Battalion assisted the ANA brigade with conducting close combat attack support with MI-35 helicopters, gaining mission success with four enemies killed in action. This was the first time the ANA had successfully integrated air force assets into operations.

The integration of MI-35’s, D-30 howitzers, and forward observers to support troops in contact can only aid in the future success of the Afghan National Army and could be one of the deciding factors in gaining overmatch against the enemies of Afghanistan.

• Date Taken: 10.18.2013
• Date Posted: 10.30.2013 00:46
• Story ID: 115928
• Location: LOGAR PROVINCE, AF
• Hometown: COLUMBIA, SC, US
• Hometown: FRANKFORT, KY, US
• Hometown: MOBILE, AL, US
• Hometown: PITTSBURGH, PA, US