6-37 Field Artillery puts their training to the test

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Davis | Soldiers from the 6th Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 210th Fires Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, conducted a certification exercise Oct. 2, 2012, on Camp Casey in Dongducheon. The purpose of the training was to certify each section for upcoming live fire exercises. (U.S. Army photos by Pvt. Kim Han-byeol, 210th Fires Brigade Public Affairs Specialist)  

26, SOUTH KOREA

10.02.2012

Story by Staff Sgt. Carlos Davis 

2nd Infantry Division/ROK-U.S. Combined Division

CAMP CASEY, South Korea – Soldiers from the 6th Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 210th Fires Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, conducted a certification exercise at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Oct. 2, 2012, which qualifies them to participate in upcoming live-fire exercises.

“I’ve just arrived here in Korea a few weeks ago; this the first time I have been a part of this type of training with my current unit,” said Sgt. Henry Youren of Boise, Idaho, a multiple launch rocket system operations/fire direction specialist with the battalion. “But I think this is good training for soldiers to become familiar with the equipment.”

According to battalion fire direction chief Sgt. 1st Class Germanic Pope, a native of Norfolk, Va., this fire direction control section certification ensures soldiers are proficient in passing targeting information to rocket launchers.

Pope is the senior multiple launch rocket system operations/fire direction specialist in the battalion’s Headquarters and Headquarters Battery. He ensures all soldiers are trained to standard and certified before going to the field to conduct live fire missions.

The 40 soldiers are tested using hands-on and written methods, Pope said. Each section is required to complete this training 30 days prior to going to the field.

“If the soldiers are actually training prior to coming out here, then this certification will not be difficult for them,” said Pope. “We have a lot of new soldiers in the battalion and a lot of the teams have not worked together before, so there have been a few minor mistakes.”

For Pfc. Jung Koo-cheol, a native of Gyeonggi-do Guri, South Korea, also a multiple launch rocket system operations/fire direction specialist, the hardest part of the training is the language barrier.

“My team does a very good job with the translation from English to Korean,” said Jung, a Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army soldier. “I have been with my team for four months and I feel this training is very beneficial for us to conduct our mission.”

One team conducting the training really enjoys the opportunity to showcase their skills.

“We look forward to the training because it allows us to show what we have been training on when given the opportunity to conduct sergeant’s time training,” said Pfc. Dametrice Scales, a native of Greenwood, Miss., also a multiple launch rocket system
operations/fire direction specialist with Battery C.

“And with this certification, we are able to fight tonight if necessary,” Scales finished.

• Date Taken: 10.02.2012
• Date Posted: 10.23.2012 01:38
• Story ID: 96589
• Location: 26, KR