Sgt. Kevin Bromley
3/1 Armor Division PAO
CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- The high pitched whine of turbine engines and the thunderous report of M1 Abrams' 120 mm main guns echoed across the vast barren desert range south of Baghdad.
"Fire," Sgt. 1st Class John Konken's voice crackled over the radio in the range observation tower. "On the way," yelled his gunner.
The Tankers of C Company, 1st Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division exuberance was punctuated with a flash and a chest rattling boom.
The M1s raced from firing point to firing point up and down range their tracks clattering over the hard earth.
"They are shooting new qualification tables tailored for Iraq," said Capt. Benjamin Garner 1-13 Armor's Battalion Liaison Officer. "The new qualification table adds small arms engagements that we wouldn't use previously."
"I enjoyed itâ?¦If we're patrolling its slower. This helps us learn to listen to the Tank Commander and keep us on the road," said Spc. Darryl Leija a driver for 3rd Platoon, C Company.
The old qualification tables focused primarily on the use of the M1 Abram's 120mm main gun the new table is designed to use the tank as a complete weapons system.
"When you're running the roads in Iraq, shooting at a car you'd more than likely use the machine gun not the 120mm main gun," said Sgt. 1st Class John Konken 3rd Platoon Sergeant.
Tanker crews are required to qualify twice per year and the requirements to qualify are very stringent. The entire crew is graded on their reaction times, the execution of their fire commands, and finally hitting the target.
"They're graded on each engagement and they can earn up to 100 points for each one, said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Valdez of C Company, 1-13 Armor who supervised the scoring team.
"The entire qualification table consists of ten engagements and an excellent crew could earn a perfect score of one thousand points," said Valdez.
In order to qualify, the crews must have seven successful engagements out of ten just to pass with the bare minimum score of 700 points. However, completing seven engagements does not guarantee that a crew will receive a passing score.
"Each engagement can have up to four targets, the crews must execute their fire commands and complete the engagements within the time allotted or they don't pass the engagement," said Valdez.
1-13 Armor was the first Battalion to use this range during OIF I and returned to test their mettle during OIF III.
"This range has improved 500% since the last time we were hereâ?¦it's as good as any range we've fired on before," said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Valdez.
| Date Taken: | 05.16.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2005 09:20 |
| Story ID: | 1834 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 106 |
| Downloads: | 20 |
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