“This is the units first time qualifying,” said 1st Lt. Felipe Marquez, commander of the 341st MP Co. and native of San Francisco, Calif. “Now that we know exactly how to conduct this type of training and what we need for future operations. That is going to be critical information for any other unit conducting this kind of training in the future.”
The Soldiers of the 341st became table VI crew certified with the M249 light machine gun, M240B machine gun, and M2 .50-caliber machine gun each mounted on a Humvee.
“We will be doing this for day and night fire leading up to table VI qualification,” Marquez said.
The focus of this training and qualification is to prepare soldiers to shoot, move and communicate efficiently by engaging moving and stationary targets using all weapon systems while in offensive and defensive postures.
“The three most important things for a soldier, especially in an MP platform is to be able to shoot, move and communicate,” said Sgt. Joe Jacques, a vehicle commander with the 341st. “We are doing all of those things right here, right now.”
To qualify, the soldiers are put into three-man teams in a Humvee mounted with a crew-served weapon on a course with various targets.
“The moving targets are representing vehicles, they would either be moving right to left or left to right,” said Spc. Richard Stafford, a native of San Jose, Calif., and gunner with the 341st MP Co.
The soldiers move throughout the course looking for targets and given a specified amount of time to shoot them down, Stafford added.
The Soldiers have previous experience driving and have qualified with their personal weapon but are now working on those skills as a team element.
“We are definitely learning to get a lot more comfortable as a team, calling out commands and pointing out where targets are,” said Stafford
Although this may be a first for the 341st, the soldiers are confident they will be successful.
“It’s still a work in progress, I’m still learning but I’m getting it,” Stafford said. “The commands have gotten easier, almost like second nature.”
| Date Taken: |
05.05.2016 |
| Date Posted: |
05.16.2016 00:56 |
| Story ID: |
198183 |
| Location: |
JOLON, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: |
87 |
| Downloads: |
1 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, First time go: MPs qualify crew-served gunnery, by SGT Amber Sanders, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
