Photo By Spc. Scott Lindblom | A white phosphorus round air burst over targets during the 3rd Combat Aviation...... read more read more
FORT STEWART, Ga. – The AH-64 Apache helicopter pilots of the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade along with field artillery from 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division Artillery teamed with Marine F/A-18 Hornet pilots of the Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224, Marine Aircraft Group 31 to deliver deadly accurate fire during Joint Air Attack Team training on Fort Stewart May 22.
The JAAT was part of the two week Falcon Focus training exercise where the 3rd CAB is validating Soldier skills and mission command systems for future operations around the world.
Staff Sgt. Trevor Swords, Troop B, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team has conducted JAAT training in a war zone and observed the impacts from the observation post.
“A JAAT is a term used when you are massing fires on an objective or series of targets within close proximity of one another using different assets,” Swords said. “Today we are having 155mm Howitzers engaging targets simultaneously with a F/A-18 from the Marine Corps all at the same time, we have AH-64 Apaches engaging with rockets and 30mm rounds.”
An MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aerial system from Company E, 3rd CAB guided artillery along with providing the targeting laser for Hellfire anti-tank missiles fired by Apache Helicopters.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Barry Galinger, brigade fire support officer, 3rd CAB spoke of the added benefit the training provides for the future battlefield.
“The benefit of the joint training is you never know where you’re at, and you never know who’s going to be there for you when you’re out in combat,” Galinger said. “Identifying these types of training events and working together we get comfortable, so we know who’s up there, and we know how they’re going to react for us when we need timely fire.”
After the training, 3rd CAB commander, Col. Jeffrey Becker commented on how he felt everything went.
“Not only did that Joint Air Attack Team training event include all the components of the joint force, it absolutely showed the capability of combining the manned unmanned system and a maneuver team of AH-64D Apaches and MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV,” Becker said. “The aircraft maneuvered as part of the JAAT to find and destroy the enemy armor formation that was moving our way. It was highly effective and highly lethal.”
Becker said this is key in today’s military where we need to maximize the value of our training dollar. The training is also important as the unit prepares for a War Fighter training exercise later this year.
“This training exercise has proven that the combat aviation brigade is an enormous part of a divisions maneuver capabilities with the speed, flexibility, mobility and lethality that we bring to bear with the systems that we employ,” Becker said.
| Date Taken: | 05.24.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.24.2016 17:16 |
| Story ID: | 198965 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 431 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Artillery, Apaches and Marine F/A-18 put steel on targets, by SPC Scott Lindblom, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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