First things first: Surveyors recon range prior to training

Photo By Cpl. Jovane Holland | Artillery surveyors arrive on location up to a week in advance to recon the area, set up range limits and verify azimuths.  

OKINAWA, JAPAN

02.04.2011

Story by Lance Cpl. Jovane Holland 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

OKINAWA, Japan - Days before the main body of artillery Marines from 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force arrived to conduct regularly scheduled artillery training here, seven Marines were already present and on the job.

Battling freezing temperatures, strong winds, snow flurries and snow drifts several feet deep, the artillery surveyors of 3/12 went about their mission on the mountaintop range effectively, charting points and verifying azimuths.

According to the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Ricardo Miagany, the goal of surveying the training area is to ensure that the Marines achieve accurately predicted artillery fire. Miagany stated there are five requirements surveyors must fulfill in order to do so.

These requirements are ensuring accurate target location and size, firing unit location, weapon and ammunition information, meteorological information and computational procedure when making calculations with their equipment.

To ensure these requirements are met, surveyors use the improved position and azimuth determining system and the position navigation unit.

The IPAD is a self- contained surveying system developed specifically to expedite and fine-tune surveyor measurements and calculations.

The PNU, a strap-down navigational system, and provides navigation functions as well as elevation and roll orientation for fire control solutions.

When the PNU is coordinated correctly with the IPAD, an accurate direction of fire determination is achieved.

Surveying thoroughly and calculating information correctly is one of the most important objectives when it comes to this type of training, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Young.

“The most important part of surveying is direction,” said Young. “If we don’t do our job correctly, the Marines can’t orient their weapons to shoot their target accurately, and that’s the whole purpose of this mission.”

3rd Battalion, 12th Marines is conducting live-fire artillery training to maintain operational readiness of the artillery battalion in support of the U.S.–Japan security alliance.

The purpose of the regularly scheduled training is to ensure that the Marines are able to sustain their operational proficiency in order to respond effectively to any conflict in the Asia-Pacific region where artillery units would be needed.

Live fire days for training are scheduled for Feb. 7-11.

• Date Taken: 02.04.2011
• Date Posted: 02.04.2011 01:39
• Story ID: 64776
• Location: OKINAWA, JP