Story, photos by Staff Sgt. Peter K. Towse
42nd Infantry Division Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE GABE, Iraq -- There are no walls here, just some patched razor wire on mounds of dirt and sand. There are no attack helicopters patrolling the sky, just a few lonely guard shacks atop cement towers â?¦ no elaborate fortifications, just tents and a small number of battle-ridden buildings.
But Forward Operating Base Gabe has a secret; a very loud secret. Metal behemoths, machines of formed steel, called Paladins, are the walls of this base and draw the line in the sand " seemingly beckoning to terrorist forces to cross it.
Soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, stand ready and resolved to protect the FOB and guard other forward operating bases as well.
"Our mission is threefold," said Capt. Joshua A. Snyder, commander of Headquarters, Headquarter Battery and a native of Carlyle, Pa.
"We provide [fire] support for missions outside the FOB and provide counter-fire against insurgent mortar and rocket attacks. We also provide [fire] support for Forward Operating Bases Warhorse and Scunion and the Iraq cities of Baqubah and Balad."
Weighing 31 tons, the 155mm Paladin stands motionless waiting for the command to release the fury held within it " enough fire power to level a small city.
"This is the main artillery piece of the Army â?¦ it is the "Cadillac" of guns," said Staff Sgt. Hefence C. Lubrin, a native of Pembroke Pines, Fla. and fifth section gun chief.
"We have to make sure that if anyone goes out the gate (of the FOB) we have to be ready to support them."
In the early hours of April 7, they get their chance " terrorists launched a mortar round just north of Baqubah, in the hopes of hitting Forward Operating Base Warhorse, not knowing that six miles away, the crew of the Paladin wait in the last shadows of dawn.
The radio in Gun Five comes alive. "Fire mission comin" down!" said Staff Sgt. Vincent Anderson, the fire direction control noncommissioned officer in charge from Fort Pierce, Fla.
Within seconds coordinates flash across the automatic fire control system. In unison, Lubrin and his crew yell "Fire mission!"
Lubrin's crew jumps to action and they flow over the controls with the harmony of an orchestra to bring the Paladin to life.
The driver of the Paladin and a native of Fort Worth, Texas, Pfc. Thomas P. Johnson, jumps in the driver's hatch and revs the engine to 1000 rpm as Lubrin turns on the hydraulics and raises the tube.
Pfc. Luke F. Connelly, No. 1 man for fifth section from Wautoma, WI, prepares the 100-pound projectile for placement into the tube.
"Permission to ram", Connelly said to the chief.
Lubrin confirms the round and gave the command to ram. Connelly rammed the round into the tube and stepped back as the gunner, Spc. Christopher L. McCall, a native of Mobile, Ala., cut the gun powder, verified the cut and charge with the chief and placed it into the tube and yelled "I see red!" letting everyone know that the powder is in correctly and the breach is ready to close. Lubrin gave the command to close the breach.
"Gun laid on target," Lubrin said. "Permission to prime and hook up," Connelly said and Lubrin gave the okay to prime the cannon and hook up the lanyard. Eleven seconds have passed as Lubrin, with his hand raised in the air, awaits the final approval to unleash the deadly weapon.
He received the order and brings his arm down, yelling "No. Five FIRE!"
The silence of the morning is broken as the Paladin fired. Smoke and fire filled the air as the ground trembled with terrifying power. The cannon rocked as the tube slammed back and the breach opened.
Inside the smoke-filled gun, the crew is ready with another round and, within seconds, another round goes down range. Then another is fired. Four rounds in all are fired toward the enemy.
As the smoke clears, the sun breaks the horizon. The crew heard mission complete called over the radio and the chief ordered them to stand down. The crew gave a sigh of relief as the tube is moved back into place and the goliath waits again.
"We come in, we occupy, we fire," Lubrin said. "It is that simple."
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2005 13:30 |
| Story ID: | 1752 |
| Location: | BAQUBAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 243 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
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