Superchargers develop their senior leadership

Courtesy Photo | Sgt. 1st Class Shaun Miller, mission commander for deployment/redeployment operations with the 189th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, gives a block of instruction to Maj. Erica White, the battalion executive officer and a Danville, Va., native, who is behind the M240B Machine Gun for the first time in years during professional development on Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Sept. 10. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Maribel Granados)  

AL ASAD, IRAQ

09.28.2011

Courtesy Story

4th Sustainment Brigade

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq – The Superchargers of the 189th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, from Fort Bragg, N.C., held professional development training Sept. 10 that took senior leaders out of the office and out of their comfort zones, putting them behind the unit’s crew-served weapon systems for a day at the range on Al Asad Air Base, Iraq.

“It is not uncommon to see a group of junior soldiers or non-commissioned officers huddled around a butcher board and a disassembled weapon, but looking at the groups out on Range 3, atop the Al Asad Air Base ridgeline, showed a slightly different picture,” said 1st Lt. Nicole Brechue, the support operations plans officer with 189th CSSB and a Highland Falls, N.Y., native.

The trainees covered the full spectrum of leadership, from staff NCOs in the grade of E-6, all the way up to the battalion command team. Lt. Col. Robert De Lacy, the commander of the 189th CSSB and a La Crescent, Minn., native, wasted no time before jumping behind the M2 .50 caliber machine gun to refresh his skills on the “Ma Deuce.”

“This is really great,” Brechue said. “I haven’t had the chance to train with any of these weapons since I was a platoon leader.”

Senior leaders formed up early with a full day of training ahead of them. Unit leaders were broken into groups and divided among the training stations, one for each weapon system and a separate station on the preparation and implementation of range cards and fighting positions.

Each trainee was given time to get their hands on the unit’s M249 light machine gun, the M240B medium machine gun and the M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun.

The climax of the training day was the M240B qualification. Each trainee had the chance to get behind the weapon system with live ammo and put rounds down range. For some Superchargers on the range that day, it was the first time ever firing this weapon system, but regardless of their score and whether they qualified or not, everyone agreed that the chance to get their hands on a M240B was enjoyable.

“It’s good to get the seniors out here training like this,” said Master Sgt. Arthur Johnson, the support operations NCOIC with the189th CSSB, and a Greenville, S.C., native. “These are perishable skills, but they’re very important to understand as leaders.”

• Date Taken: 09.28.2011
• Date Posted: 10.08.2011 05:45
• Story ID: 78214
• Location: AL ASAD, IQ