Photo By Staff Sgt. David Strayer | Jundi Muhammed, a field artillery gun crew member assigned to 105th Field Artillery...... read more read more
KIRKUSH MILITARY TRAINING BASE, Iraq – Iraqi army soldiers assigned to 5th IA Division’s newly formed 105th Field Artillery Regiment practiced crew drills on their M198 155mm howitzers at Kirkush Military Training Base, Iraq, May 9.
U.S. soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division instructed the Iraqi soldiers during a dedicated field artillery training course at KMTB as the gun crews become the foundation of the growing IA field artillery corps.
“This is their training, these are their guns,” said Staff Sgt. Nicholas Hellen, an instructor from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Bn., 11th FA Regt. “It’s up to them and they seem ready to take that responsibility.”
Throughout the crew drills, Iraqi soldiers practiced the fundamentals of emplacing, loading, aiming and firing the howitzers as they prepare for a live fire exercise later this month.
1st Lt. Adam Thompson, a senior M198 weapon system instructor, said the goal of the program goes beyond simply training Iraqi soldiers on new equipment.
“The end state of all this is to see a fully functional, self sustaining field artillery team that can return to their units and begin training others and help their field artillery corps grow,” said Thompson.
Thompson said the students are motivated and willing to learn the new skills.
U.S. and Iraqi instructors at KMTB currently provide infantry units going through Tadreeb al Shamil rotations extensive training on mortar systems such as 60mm, 81mm, and 120mm mortars.
Prior to the current training cycle at KMTB, Iraqi soldiers had little to no field artillery training or assets.
“There are several of these guys that have had experience with mortars,” said Hellen. “It gives them a grasp on some of the principles of indirect fire; but field artillery is a whole new ballgame for most of them.”
“They understand how important this training cycle is not only to them—but to the rest of the Iraqi army, essentially—and they are really taking it seriously,” Hellen said.
Instructors hope to groom the first class of artillery graduates into proficient teachers capable of extending the artillery courses to fellow soldiers once the students return to their respective bases, Hellen added.
Class leaders broke down the Iraqi unit into gun crews, and throughout the course of the training rotation, team members from each crew separated into roles as gun crew members, fire direction operators or forward observers.
“These guys actually have a huge responsibility; they are the backbone, the foundation for what will eventually become the Iraqi army’s field artillery corps,” said Hellen. “We really want to get them proficient enough to take this back to their unit and be able to start training more soldiers and become force multipliers.”
All of the preparation and training will pay off when the crews demonstrate their skills, said Thompson, noting the upcoming Operation Iron Lion.
Operation Iron Lion is a provincial capstone exercise intended to showcase the ISF’s capability to conduct independent operations, scheduled for later this year.
“These guys are going to display how much of an asset they are to their army,” said Thompson. “This particular group will have the knowledge and the pride to be able to say they were the first ones trained by the U.S., the first ones on these guns, and the ones that stood up the Iraqi Army’s field artillery corps.”
| Date Taken: | 05.12.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2011 12:34 |
| Story ID: | 71768 |
| Location: | KIRKUSH MILITARY TRAINING BASE, IQ |
| Web Views: | 217 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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