Photo By Maj. Spencer Garrison | A platoon of M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th...... read more read more
CAMP KONOTOP, Poland – Coming alive with the sounds of roaring engines and creaking sprockets engaging the tracks, a dormant giant awakens - and he and his friends have come to dance.
He is an M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank, the star of this dance, sharply dressed for the art of battle, and his dance floor is the modern battlefield.
His music is the the percussion-driven explosions of rounds leaving the chambers of his drums, and his musicians are highly skilled in the art of destruction.
These musicians are the “Death Riders,” U.S. Soldiers of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, participating in a tank platoon live-fire exercise May 11, 2015 at the Bucierz Range Complex in Camp Konotop, Poland.
Having been out in the field for the past 10 days training on individual and tank crew-level drills, the Death Riders are now incorporating tank platoon-level gunnery into their stay. They must show they're able to work as a platoon in engaging and destroying their targets as a team.
The communication between the individual tank crews and the other crews in their platoon is critical, as the amount of radio traffic coming to them is amplified by three to four times. It's up to them to be able to shoot, move and communicate with each other in order to accomplish their combined objective.
“Pick it up just a bit,” comes in over the platoon's radio.
“Slow it down. We're going to creep up on this IV-line [inter-visibility] and see what's on the other side.”
“Phase line Brady. Negative enemy contact.”
“Four, slow it down. You're getting way ahead.”
“Alright, Two, this is One, we can resume our speed, over.”
“We're going one-zero miles per hour right now. Get on line.”
Sgt. Lawrence Cox, a tank gunner assigned to Company D said the atmosphere inside the tank is a lot of fun for him and the rest of the crew, but the communications piece is a huge part of making the exercise work.
“Being able to effectively communicate between the tanks is very important,” said Cox. “It's not just one tank fighting on it's own, we're out there fighting as a platoon. “It's four tanks, so when it comes to passing over targets, communication is key.”
Cox said there's a lot at stake for the platoon as a whole.
“For survival you have to destroy the enemy before they destroy you, so you have to communicate a lot.”
For platoon leaders and platoon sergeants, the added tasks of keeping an accurate tally of ammo and fuel usage is another pressure designed to test their abilities even further.
Sgt. 1st Class Clayton Hardin, the senior enlisted adviser for Company D, said this is purposely designed so they can accurately relay the information to the higher leadership in order to maintain better situational awareness.
“The training so far has been all about the crew, but this training is designed to take that platoon leadership to the next level,” said Hardin. “They have to be able to take in everything that's happening on the battlefield to paint a better picture for the company or battalion commander to apply decisive action on the battlefield.”
Towards the end of the course, the mortarmen from the battalion's headquarters company join in the fight to provide an added element of fire superiority for the tankers.
If the dance steps weren't complicated enough, a tank crew member from one of the tanks is taken out of the fight as a hypothetical casualty.
“It's all situational, but it does hinder us because it takes a tank out of the fight for a while,” said Cox. “That's all part of why we train this way, so we can be able to drive on with our mission.”
With all the training leading up to better battlefield capability, these death-riding dancers are more than capable of handling whatever music they face.
| Date Taken: | 05.11.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.13.2015 01:55 |
| Story ID: | 163086 |
| Location: | DRAWSKO POMORSKIE, PL |
| Hometown: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 184 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Orchestrating a deadly dance of destruction, by SGT Brandon Anderson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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