Photo By Sgt. Natalie Loucks | A M109 Paladin howitzer, belonging to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery...... read more read more
By Sgt Natalie Rostek
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – The Soldiers say their job is fairly simple.
The effects, however, will leave a lasting impression on everything in their path.
The platoon-sized element from 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery working out of Forward Operating Base Hammer is responsible for three main tasks, said Staff Sgt. Michael Clark of Greenville, N.C., an artilleryman for 1-10 FA. The unit's duties include conducting counter-fire missions, terrain denial missions and fire for effect missions.
"We kill bad guys," said Sgt. Ralph Harrison, of Columbus, Ga. "We conduct counter-fire operations, which are when we get mortared -- we shoot back at the point of origin."
Sgt. Christopher Shores, of Winston-Salem, N.C., an artilleryman for 1-10 FA, said terrain denial missions consist of firing at an area to deter insurgents from conducting enemy activity in that location.
"Fire for effect missions," he said, "are missions where we are aiming at one specific target and we hit that target and destroy it."
Harrison said his unit is responsible for destroying boats found along the Tigris River. The 3rd (Heavy) Brigade Combat Team suspects these boats are used to transport weapons and munitions from Iran into Baghdad. The residents told coalition forces they do not use the river.
To effectively complete a mission, Soldiers must take the proper steps in a short period of time. On any operation where a 155 mm round is fired from the M109 Paladin Howitzer, the air and ground must be cleared of any friendly forces and unintended targets, Harrison said. When the area is cleared a call is made to the line crew on FOB Hammer.
When the Paladin crew receives the mission, they assume their positions. Information that the team needs for an accurate shot pops up on a screen inside the Paladin. The crew loads a 155 mm round into the tube, the gunner puts powder in to expel the round and verifies the deflection and quadrants. The chief reads the data and sets the gun on the target.
"The chief overlooks everything in the operation on the ground," said Clark, who serves as the chief for his crew. "That's pretty important. If anything goes wrong, it all comes back to me."
Each crew spends anywhere from 12 to 24 hours on the line. They are always on their toes, prepared for any mission from the 3rd HBCT headquarters.
"The hardest part of this job is the elements," Clark said. "The heat is the worst, but everything else is pretty easy."
The job requires each crew to be stationary, but the product of their efforts can be seen through the camera of a patrolling unmanned aerial vehicle. Shores said he prefers the crew stay on FOB Hammer to get their job done.
"The best part about our job is we can destroy a target without actually having to be there," he said.
The crew perform their work in the middle of a vast open area at Forward Operating Base Hammer where there are no other Soldiers. Sometimes they are overlooked because they are such a small element, but Clark said 1-10 FA is a wanted and needed element of 3rd HBCT.
"They see us hit the target from the (unmanned aerial vehicle), they hear the boom," he said. "I think they are happy to have us around."
| Date Taken: | 07.25.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2007 12:14 |
| Story ID: | 11467 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, IQ |
| Web Views: | 541 |
| Downloads: | 479 |
This work, 1-10 FA blasts the big guns, by SGT Natalie Loucks, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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