Photo By Bernhard Lashleyleidner | Sgt. Jesse Burton, left, canon crewman with 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery, 1st...... read more read more
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FORT RILEY, Kan. - Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, hosted 95 Air Force officers Oct. 21 at Fort Riley during a leader professional development event.
The Air Force officers were attending the Army’s Intermediate Level Education course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Lt. Col. Ryan Maender, commander, 1st Bn., 5th FA Regt., 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div., said the purpose of the LPD was to familiarize Air Force ILE students with the capabilities, equipment and processes associated with the direct support of an artillery battalion in an ABCT.
“We wanted to show the students a mock suppression of an enemy air defense mission,” said Maj. Jared Powell, brigade fire support officer with 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div. “Our goal was to educate them on our fire
support systems and platforms.”
Powell, a native of Newport News, Virginia, said he hoped the Air Force students gained a better understanding of what an artillery unit does, which will assist them with planning, preparing, integrating and synchronizing artillery on the battlefield.
The ILE students learned the entire process to put steel on targets, starting from target identification, call for fire, clearance of fires, sensor-to-shooter process and battlefield effects.
The culminating event for the professional development training was a battalion live-fire exercise.
Students watched M198 howitzers fire 18 rounds into the artillery impact area and one M109A6 Paladin conduct a direct fire demonstration with an incendiary round from observation post C.
“This was a wonderful educational opportunity for the 89 Air Force majors attending the Army’s CGSC School,” said Col. Lee Gentile, director of the Air Force Element with the Command and General Staff
College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. “For them to be able to see all the equipment and view a live demonstration of an artillery unit firing rounds was outstanding.”
Gentile, a native of Wrentham, Massachusetts, said he brought almost every Air Force military occupational specialty to the LPD to augment their studies by exposing them to a combined-arms, live-fire exercise.
“I wanted my officers to see how to conduct land warfare and understand the roles, mission, limitations and capabilities of the Army first hand,” Gentile said. “They were able to see how a brigade commander in the Army owns all of their assets along with the flexibility and capabilities it provides them, which is a unique experience for my officers.”
Gentile said, as ambassadors for the Air Force, the visitors could understand and communicate the needs of the Army to the Air Force and the capabilities of the Air Force to the Army in common language.
“This has been an incredible experience,” said Maj. Bishane Whitmore, a remotely piloted aircraft pilot and ILE student. “The 1st Bn, 5th FA, Soldiers have been extremely professional and hospitable.”
Whitmore, a native of Aurora, Colorado, said seeing the battlefield from the ground was rewarding.
“I am so impressed with how knowledgeable all the Soldiers I spoke with were,” Whitmore said. “This event has set a high mark on how I will forever view the Army and its capabilities.”
Gentile said the trip was a success, the learning objectives were achieved and the first-class hospitality and instruction left a positive impression on his officers.
Maender, a native of Scotia, New York, said this was the first time the unit hosted an event like this for field-grade officers from a sister service and how monumental it was for all parties.
“I think they have a better understanding of the capabilities of an artillery unit,” Maender said. “I hope this becomes a recurring event between us and the ILE course.”
| Date Taken: | 10.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 11.06.2015 17:23 |
| Story ID: | 181247 |
| Location: | FORT RILEY, KS, US |
| Hometown: | AURORA, CO, US |
| Hometown: | NEWPORT NEWS, VA, US |
| Hometown: | SCOTIA, NY, US |
| Hometown: | WRENTHAM, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 211 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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