CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The open range of the north training area at the Wyoming National Guard’s Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center provided the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery Regiment, from Fort Sill, Okla., a chance to shoot live fire missions in a way that only their most senior non-commissioned officers (NCO) have done in the past.

“Here, instead of other posts dictating the safety for us, we get to shoot our own safety and make our own safety boxes – which is going back to the old school, you could say, in the field artillery,” said Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Ferguson, the battalion’s operations NCO.

Once the camp verifies a unit is capable of calculating their own safety, the formulas used to ensure the weapons fire safely and land in the camp’s designated impact areas, units are left to train. Camp Guernsey allows units to focus on the training value of all aspects of live fire missions. The camp also allows for increased space for units to maneuver, further simulating combat conditions.

“There’s a few senior NCO’s that we have and some of the staff officers do it, but not the young lieutenants down at the line level,” Ferguson said. “It enhances the training. Like I said, it makes us go back to the old school, where we’re not relying on range control, or anybody. We’re relying on ourselves to make sure the rockets land safely.”

April 28 marked the first time the 2-18th FAR fired rockets from their M270A1 Multiple Launch Rocket System launchers at Camp Guernsey. The unit fired again the following morning.

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