Raider Company Mortarmen Hone Their Skills one Shell at a Time

Photo By Spc. Jazz Burney | U.S. Army soldiers with Mortar Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, duck and protect their ears after launching a mortar shell during a live-fire exercise Sept. 3, 2011. The platoon's leaders conducted the training to keep their soldiers proficient in firing their mortar systems.  

COMBAT OUTPOST KHILAGAY, AFGHANISTAN

09.03.2011

Story by Spc. Jazz Burney 

170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

COMBAT OUTPOST KHILAGAY, Afghanistan – Behind a seven-layer-high wall of sandbags, U.S. Army soldiers in body armor and helmets gathered around a long metal cylinder.

"Fire mission! Deflection! Elevation! Charge two!" said the senior soldier who tilted his head back to project his commands. His subordinates lifted and passed one 81 mm mortar shell from inside a nearby crate, to be dropped inside the mortar tube.

Thundering booms echoed around the combat outpost, as soldiers with Mortar Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team conducted mortar live-fire training here Sept. 3.

Soldiers launched more than 15 rounds from three separate mortars into a designated mortar range outside the outpost. During the exercise, soldiers fired 60 mm, 81 mm, and 120 mm mortars for proficiency and maintenance of the weapons.

Throughout military history, militiamen used mortars to assist ground forces by providing indirect fire against their enemies.

"Our mortar systems are valuable assets for engaging and eliminating the enemy from long distances. Instead of shooting point blank, we can fire our rounds from many meters out," said Staff Sgt. Albert Brown, the Mortar Platoon sergeant with A Company.

Depending on the size of a mortar, soldiers can fire a shell and hit a target more than 1.9 miles out or as close as 160 meters.

Because certain mortars are light enough to be carried, a mortar crew of three or more can accompany infantrymen in combat, said Spc. Christopher Hoffman, a Philadelphia, native, now a member of the mortar platoon.

A Company’s Mortar Platoon consists of two sections known as One Gun and Two Gun. Though a team, soldiers compete against each other during fire missions. This friendly rivalry improves the time it takes soldiers to accurately land rounds on target, but bragging rights are on the line also.

"We encourage a little competition in the training of our men. An effective training event has to have an element competition in it," Brown said.

Like any skill, repetition builds confidence and the live fire exercise symbolized "being able to pedal and stay on the bike," said Pfc. Randall Long, a Richmond, Ind., now a mortar man with the platoon.

Leaders trained their soldiers to perform the fire missions in the absence their guidance, in case a leader is taken out the fight during battle.

"We have to train these guys to do our jobs," said Sgt. Jason Carroll, a Riverside, N.J., native, now the Two Gun squad leader with the platoon. “We also want to prepare them for when they are promoted and have a squad or platoon of their own," Carroll said.

Mortar men of A Company also function as defense for the outpost, protecting the lives of their comrades from enemy combatants.

“Ideally if we are under fire, our team should be able to deliver immediate support fire within 15 minutes. This is why we train, so that we can eliminate our enemies with accurate steel on target,” Carroll said.

• Date Taken: 09.03.2011
• Date Posted: 09.16.2011 06:52
• Story ID: 77123
• Location: COMBAT OUTPOST KHILAGAY, AF