Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Cairo is U.S. Army Centrals "Strong Sergeant, Strong Soldier of the Week" Juniper Oak 2023

CAMP BUEHRING, KUWAIT

01.12.2023

Photo by Spc. David Campos-Contreras 

U.S. Army Central   

Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Cairo, assigned with 2-130 Field Artillery Regiment, poses for a portrait as Army Central's "Strong Sergeant, Strong Soldier of the Week", during a dress rehearsal for exercise Juniper Oak, at Camp Buehring, January 12, 2023. The crews of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and fire direction personnel were rehearsing fire direction communications, receiving missions from brigade down to battalion and executing them.

"Field Artillery is kind of like everything else you do in the Army," said Cairo. " You want to practice your job and you want to be proficient at it so that you're not figuring out things you're doing wrong when you need to be physically executing them. Practice makes perfect."

As the master gunner for 2-130 FAR, Cairo is the technical and tactical expert for HIMARS; advising the commander on everything related to HIMARS. Cairo also develops training materials to conduct gunnery and live-fire exercises.

"When we do these types of live fire exercises it's not exactly the way we would do it by doctrine," said Cairo. "This isn't the 'book' way of shooting HIMARS. But it does make for a good show."

These exercises engage partner nations because they give a basic understanding on what the HIMARS is capable of. Juniper Oak is an exercise that strengthens collective U.S. and Israeli readiness and improves the interoperability of both forces, thereby contributing to regional stability. Exercises like Juniper Oak show that interoperability and integration represent the improved security in the region. According to U.S. Central Command, 6,400 U.S. troops and more than 1,500 Israeli troops trained side by side making it the largest U.S. and Israel partnered exercise in history.

Reflecting on his time as a non-commissioned officer, Cairo said "There's a lot more to being in the army than most specialists and privates understand at their rank. I think the most important thing is taking care of our soldiers and sometimes as a lower enlisted you don't see that, and you don't feel that is happening. Strong NCOs can come in, help guide them, and put them on the right path for being a leader in our battalion and weapon system altogether." (U.S. Army photo by Spc. David Campos-Contreras)

• Date Taken: 01.12.2023
• Date Posted: 01.31.2023 16:24
• Photo ID: 7607648
• VIRIN: 230112-A-QV168-1003
• Resolution: 4480x6720
• Size: 3.24 MB
• Location: CAMP BUEHRING, KW