Paratroopers with the Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division participated in a Joint Operation Access Exercise, June 26 -28, on Fort Bragg, N.C.
Paratroopers jumped from planes to seize and control an airfield, as they engaged notional enemy forces in an imaginary country.
“The training for the JOAX was to hone the paratroopers skills,” said Sgt. Maj. Joey Love, the command sergeant major for the 3-319th, and a Los Angeles native.
After using artillery to clear the airfield, paratroopers landed and engaged the notional enemies, eventually forcing them out of the area.
The 3-319th’s primary mission is to support the infantry in combat situations.
“The importance of the artillery is to be one of the first combat enablers to provide fast support for the maneuver guys to be able to provide force entry,” Love said. “We cross leveled sections to get two guns up and ready.”
The support provided by 3-319th enabled the rest of the BCT to successfully complete the mission.
“The JOAX is a fundamental 82nd (Airborne Division) mission,” Sgt. 1st Class Richard Ortiz, a medical platoon non-commissioned officer with the 3-319th, and Brooklyn, N.Y., native, said. “Taking over an airfield, jumping in, and using a quick assault to push out the enemy, that’s the Airborne way.”