Photo By Maj. Leslie Reed | Oregon Army National Guard Spc. Everett Mayers, ammunition team chief for Gun Three,...... read more read more
Subscribe
YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. -- It took well over a year of planning, but just seven minutes to fire the M119A howitzer cannons.
From their first emplacement by aviation assets, it was the first dual mission of its kind by an Oregon unit; a sling load mission followed by an artillery raid, involving the movement of a total of four Howitzers by CH-47 Chinook, F-Model helicopters in two chalks or iterations.
For the Soldiers of Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery and its command team, it raised the stakes a lot higher than their normal training, according to Battalion Commander, Capt. Andrew Christoson.
“It definitely put the pressure on, because you’ve got the hill and everybody’s watching you,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve ever done anything like this and now we have an audience. Stress is high.”
While the Field Artillery unit is a part of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team — typically a light infantry brigade combat team, the Field Artillery has light howitzers, (M119A2), which are capable of a range of up to 14 kilometers, and are often utilized to destroy targets in areas with difficult terrain.
As a light brigade, the ability for its artillery assets to be able to moved using aviation assets is crucial, and a skill set that gives them far better reach to support the brigade, Christoson said.
“If we are unable to get to a specific area ourselves, due to terrain features, we can use air assets to transport us there,” he said.
One example is the mountainous terrain found in Afghanistan.
“This is the kind of stuff that Soldiers join the Army for and we gain access to this kind of training without schools and the equipment,” he said.
A total of nine Soldiers from the battery were qualified in air assault, and all the members completed the course at Camp Rilea, located on Oregon’s north coast.
Sgt. William McKnight, an ammo team chief with the unit, recalls his preparatory training, months ahead of the actual mission.
“I mainly assisted other Air Assault qualified Soldiers, preparing power point slides for classes, going over the characteristics of various helicopters, practicing rigging and unloading sling loads,” McKnight said. “It was a nice surprise to actually start to use the training and an even greater surprise to do the mission.
Air assault personnel were also responsible for guiding the helicopters in with hand and arm signals, performing and supervising the slings, and acting as the hook-up crew for the helicopter.
A team of five personnel is necessary to attach the rigging to the M119A howitzers. One person connects what’s referred to as the “dog bone” or static probe, to the underside of the helicopter, while three Soldiers provide support, and the fifth Soldier stands at the ready, providing backup to the Soldier with the static probe, due to the strong rotor wash.
At the same time, throughout the entire process, the Chinook’s crew chief also observes and gives direction to the pilots by observing ground operations through the hatch on the helicopter’s belly.
“The main thing is to make sure we have the Howitzer tied up quickly,” McKnight said. “There are some shiny surfaces on the Howitzer that can’t get scratched for any reason, otherwise, it could be dead lined.” Dead lined meaning that the Howitzer would become inoperative and would be unsafe or could be damaged by further use, affecting the battery’s ability to respond.
One of the game changers during the operation was not relying on trucks to pull the Howitzers, and making the necessary adjustments ahead of time. Most importantly since the crews would be without their trucks, they had to ensure they carried all the proper tools they would need.
A gun crew consists of seven Soldiers; a gun chief plus six additional Soldiers who are assigned as ammo chief and gunners. During the training mission each gun crew fired four rounds with high explosive shells, point detonating fuzes, and charge three. The fuze initiates an explosion, through a series of sensitive explosive material, also known as an explosive train, causing the round to produce the desired effect. The charge, which can range from one to seven, refers to the propellant, which pushes the projectile or round to the target, destroying it on impact.
Spc. Joel Reyes, an Ammo Team chief, was specifically responsible for getting the rounds ready, prepping and ensuring the proper ammunition was used based on the gun chief’s commands.
“All of which is critical in effectively putting the artillery on its intended target,” Reyes added.
Christoson said the most difficult part of the mission is supervising the entire battalion, and making sure all the sling loads were inspected properly.
“[But most of all], ensuring that everybody is safe; safety is probably the biggest challenge and my biggest concern. If we’re not safe than the mission is not a success,” he said.
The CH-47 Chinook, F-Model, piloted by Chief Warrant Officer-4 Don Ford and Chief Warrant Officer-2 Anthony Ives, both of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation is a new aircraft addition to the Oregon Guard. Currently, Oregon owns one of these aircraft and anticipates receiving two additional CH-47-F airframes.
Oregon Army Guard helicopter pilots across the state are currently undergoing training to become qualified on the new aircraft, which have updated electronics and cargo loading systems.
“It pretty much flies itself between point-A and point-B with a 50-foot hover,“ said Sgt. Jeremy Maddox, a flight engineer with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation.
The helicopter used specifically for the training mission was hand receipted from California, and used for training purposes.
“What’s cool about this mission is that it gives us the training, but also gives the aviation the training,” Christoson said. “They are preparing for a deployment and sling loading is part of their certification. So it was a success on both ends.“
McKnight agreed.
“The more we work together, the more we serve as one team,” he said.
Many in the unit have a ‘dream list’ for future training. First Sgt. Richard Parker, the senior enlisted Soldier for Alpha Battery, said he would prefer to start utilizing more of the unit’s high tech equipment, such as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), like the RQ-11 Raven—a lightweight unmanned aircraft system designed to conduct low-altitude reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition.
“We’d like to send people to Raven school, which we are already working on,” Parker said. “We’d utilize them to do recon missions and help save Soldiers, plus give us an eye in the sky.”
Spc. Joel Reyes, who has been in the battalion for nearly five years, said the mission was a huge morale booster.
“This is a totally new experience for most of us,” he said. “There are a couple of people here and there that have done it in the past, but overall this is a new experience for the whole unit. This shows great trust in what we have done in the past, and to be able to build upon it.”
Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery will celebrate its 150th anniversary in February 2016. The unit has a lineage which began in 1866, and is said to be the oldest artillery battery west of the Mississippi River.
| Date Taken: | 08.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.21.2015 19:24 |
| Story ID: | 173954 |
| Location: | YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WA, US |
| Hometown: | FOREST GROVE, OR, US |
| Web Views: | 290 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Oregon’s Field Artillery sling loads for first time, by MAJ Leslie Reed, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT