Photo By Sgt. Olivia McDonald | Marines with Bravo Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A crisp breeze swept across the range as 150 tons of steel clamored to the firing position. After a quick scan of the battlefield, the deafening roar of the cannon echoed over the field the round landing perfectly on target. The Marines’ semi-annual gunnery qualification had begun.
Company B, 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, put their solidarity, communication skills and proficiency to the test while conducting a 23-day gunnery qualification with M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, Oct. 7-30, 2014.
Tan and tri-color camouflage painted tanks paired up across the seemingly endless and rough terrain, with their smoothbore cannons pointed down range. Inside every tank is a crew of four Marines, each with a specific job vital to the operation of the bulletproof beast.
Each crew is comprised of: a driver that operates and positions the tank to fire on target; a loader to maintain the vehicle’s ammunition and load the rounds into the tank’s main gun; a gunner who prepares the tank for movement, locates targets and employs its weapons systems; and a tank commander who supervises all operations of the tank, assuming responsibility for the vehicle and crew.
“During gunnery qualifications, the biggest thing I look for is crew cohesion,” said Sgt. Aaron T. Logan, the company’s master gunner and a native of Woodburn, Indiana. “The crew’s understanding of their individual roles and how they must work together to properly employ the fire control system, move down range, and destroy targets, determines how they perform on the different tables during gunnery qualifications.”
The tables that cover the crew’s qualifications are numbered two through six, and progress from engaging stationary targets with one round to engaging moving targets with multiple rounds. The training is a precursor to section and platoon qualification tables later in the exercise.
The qualification works on a point system, with scores based on the number of targets engaged, the speed and accuracy in which the targets are engaged, and responses to scenario-based challenges within the tank.
“This qualification is important, not only because it keeps us proficient in operating the tanks, but it also teaches how to work better as a crew,” said Sgt. Amadeo Hernandez, a tank commander with Company B, 2nd Tanks.
The multiple scenarios also included challenges like degraded systems, limiting the vehicles maneuverability and functionality, in order to assess how the tank crews would react in a combat scenario with a malfunctioning tank. The valuable experience of qualification is an annual requirement for tank crews.
“We qualify at gunnery at least once a year,” said 1st Lt. Christopher Varga, a platoon commander with Company B, and a native of Somerset, New Jersey. “However, this year we are fortunate enough to qualify twice, and that will help us prepare for upcoming training exercises that are on a much larger scale.”
The next major event that will allow the company to apply their qualifications is the Integrated Training Exercise in Twentynine Palms, California, which begins in April.
| Date Taken: | 10.23.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2014 15:29 |
| Story ID: | 146199 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Hometown: | SOMERSET, NJ, US |
| Hometown: | WOODBURN, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 81 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cohesion and Proficiency: 2nd Tanks completes gunnery qualifications, by SSgt Mel Johnson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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