Maritime marksmanship refresher

Courtesy Photo | Petty Officer 1st Class Ian Keane, a gunner's mate onboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Diligence and native of Champaign, Ill., replaces the barrel of an M240B during a gunnery exercise conducted as part of Exercise Tradewinds 2011, March 12. Tradewinds is an annual multi-national exercise that is aimed at enhancing stability and inter-operability in the Caribbean. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class George Degener).  

ST. JOHN'S, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

03.12.2011

Courtesy Story

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua and Barbuda -- As the sun rose on March 12, the six vessels that make up the fleet track of Exercise Tradewinds 2011 got under way from the Nevis Street Pier in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.

Their second day of under way training began with a formation steam led by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Diligence, homeported in Wilmington, N.C. Following the Diligence were: the Barbados Coast Guard ship Trident, Her Majesty’s Canadian ship Moncton, the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard ship Gaspar Grande, Her Majesty’s Canadian ship Summerside and Coast Guardsmen from the Dominican Republic on the ship Canopus.

Underneath the Caribbean sun, the line of ships traveled to a pre-determined area about 22 nautical miles northwest of Antigua. This location would be the site of a gunnery exercise, allowing each ship’s crew to demonstrate their abilities with either a .50 cal. or M240B deck-mounted weapon.

The M240B fires a 7.62 mm round and can be used by the Coast Guard to issue warning fire during interdiction operations.

Onboard Diligence, Petty Officer 1st Class Ian Keane, a gunner’s mate originally from Champaign, Ill., and Ens. Kyle Schaffner, Diligence’s weapons officer, originally from Long Brach, N.J., delivered an informational brief to a crowd of both U.S. and Canadian personnel. They outlined the day’s schedule, safety procedures and steps of loading, aiming and firing the M240B.

At 9:30 a.m., the gun crews of the Diligence took their place on the port side of the ship’s bridge, 35 feet above the waterline. Radio broadcasts from the bridge warned mariners in the area that a live-fire exercise was being conducted. Communicating on VHF-radio channel 14, the ships passed the words “Bravo Foxtrot” to each other signaling that their weapons were manned and ready to fire.

Crewmembers donned body armor, protective flash gear consisting of fire-retardant shirts, gloves and hoods, eye and ear protection and battle helmets. After inspecting each other and making sure that no boats were in their line of fire, they finished their preparations and got ready to squeeze the trigger.

Under Keane’s direction, Diligence’s gun crew slid a box of 200 7.62 mm ball-and-tracer rounds into the holder mounted on the side of the weapon. Inserting the first round into the feeder, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Griffin, an electrician’s mate, waited for permission to test fire a three-round burst out over the water.

After hearing the words “batteries released,” three rounds spat from the weapon’s muzzle over the water.

After making sure that the weapon was in working order, Diligence personnel dropped smoke floats into the water for the ships to use as targets. These 2-foot cylinders filled with phosphorous emit smoke when coming into contact with water and are normally used in an emergency situation, such as a man overboard, to mark a position in the water or to act as datum.

Gunners shot 100 rounds each, the first 50 in three to five round bursts, and the last 50 in 10 to 15 round bursts. As each ship in line passed by the target, the sound of gunfire echoed through the air. The Rounds kicking up splashes as they impacted the water and the brightly burning tracers allowed shooters to adjust their aim and find their targets.

After rotating different gun crewmembers through firing the weapon, other members of the crew that don’t normally act as gunners were given the opportunity to try firing over the water.

“I have never fired a gun before in my life,” said Seaman Joshua Serrano, a member of Diligence’s Deck Force, originally from San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. “It was a little intimidating and I thought it was going to be scary up there, but once I got into position and pulled the trigger, that all went away. Since it’s mounted, there’s almost no recoil and the part where you’re shooting in the larger bursts was one of the most awesome experiences of my life.”

Tradewinds is a joint-combined, interagency exercise and will involve U.S. personnel from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, Joint-interagency Task Force-South, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with forces from: Antigua-Barbuda (host nation), Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago.

• Date Taken: 03.12.2011
• Date Posted: 03.14.2011 17:38
• Story ID: 67051
• Location: ST. JOHN'S, AG