Aerial gunnery range prepares soldiers for deployment

Photo By Sgt. Jessica Kuhn | A soldier from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, also known as the Cavemen, looks on as one of his fellow crew chiefs qualifies on the M240H machine gun during an aerial gunnery range at the Fort Bragg training grounds, Feb. 18-20. The soldiers were attempting to qualify from UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter in preparation for a deployment to Afghanistan later this year. “The UH-60 portion is basically to ensure that our door gunners and crew chiefs can qualify on their assigned weapons, the M240, within 12 months of deployment,” said Capt. Russell A. Buckhalt, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot for Company B, 2nd Bn., 82nd CAB.  

FORT BRAGG, NC, UNITED STATES

02.19.2011

Story by Sgt. Jessica Kuhn 

49th Public Affairs Detachment   

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Bullets zoom by the soldiers heads as they maneuver through a village in Afghanistan awaiting evacuation. In the distance, the soldiers hear what they hope is a U.S. helicopter on its way to aid their escape.

Seconds later, they watch as rockets from an AH-64D Apache helicopter pummel the building where the attacking insurgents were hiding. Within a few minutes, a UH-60M Blackhawk helicopter soars through the air and set down about 50 meters from the soldiers on the ground.

The team leader yells for his soldiers to start making their way toward the Blackhawk helicopter as its door gunner provides suppressing fire.

All of the soldiers run to the helicopter while the Apache helicopter looses more of its rockets at the building as the Blackhawk helicopter safely takes off with all soldiers now aboard.

For the soldiers of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, also known as the Cavemen, this was the type of scenario they acted out during the aerial gunnery range at the Fort Bragg training grounds, Feb. 18-20.

The aerial gunnery range included both the Blackhawk helicopter carrying soldiers qualifying as door gunners on the M240H machine gun as well as the Apache helicopter carrying their crews qualifying on the helicopter’s weapon systems, said Capt. Russell A. Buckhalt, a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for Company B, 2nd Btn., 82nd CAB.

“The UH-60 portion is basically to ensure that our door gunners and crew chiefs can qualify on their assigned weapons, the M240, within 12 months of deployment,” Buckhalt, a native of Miami, Fla., said.

The Apache helicopter crews were also qualifying in preparation for a deployment to Afghanistan later this year, Buckhalt said.

In this type of training, the soldiers feel they can really reenact a scenario they might face during deployment.

“We do aerial gunnery ranges to get the door gunners and crew chiefs familiarized with the M240H weapon and shooting from a moving aircraft,” said Pfc. Joshua E. Clark, a crew chief with Company B, 2nd Btn., 82nd CAB. “It’s a lot different from shooting on the ground; you have the rotor wash and the landing to deal with.”

Moreover, it puts the soldiers into certain predicaments they might face while in combat.

“It creates real life problems; for example your weapon has a jam, you have to be able to fix it fast because down range you are going to have someone most likely shooting at you,” Clark, a native of Snellville, Ga., said.

Besides giving the door gunners the chance to qualify on their weapon, it also allows the crew chiefs and pilots a chance to practice their communication in the air.

“The training involves coordination with the pilots and the crew working together on how to properly and correctly engage the targets effectively,” said Spc. Jason S. Hyde, a crew chief with Company B, 2nd Btn., 82nd CAB.

Buckhalt emphasized the importance of communication between the crew.

“It’s important to have good communication because when you get in the helicopter you’re not just a single person, you’re a crew, and everyone needs to be on the same sheet of music,” Buckhalt said. “We can’t do our jobs without our crew chiefs and they can’t do theirs without us working as a team communicating.”

Throughout the aerial gunnery range, soldiers had to qualify both during the day and night.

“Loading the weapon under night vision goggles is pretty challenging,” Hyde, a native of Horsehead, N.Y., said. “You just have to overcome those challenges by remembering your goal and what you’re trying to do protecting the crew and the ground troops.”

According to Buckhalt, protecting the soldiers on the ground is what they are there to do first and foremost.

“Our job as air support, no matter what the aircraft, is to support the ground troops,” Buckhalt said. “The ground element is the primary fighting force so we need to be there to back them up.”

Altogether, the Cavemen were able to qualify all 31 door gunners on the Blackhawk helicopter successfully along with seven Apache helicopter crew teams, better preparing them for their upcoming deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom scheduled for later this year.

• Date Taken: 02.19.2011
• Date Posted: 03.01.2011 11:48
• Story ID: 66289
• Location: FORT BRAGG, NC, US