Soldiers earn 89B certification in Ammunition Supply Course at Fort McCoy

Photo By Scott Sturkol | Students with the 13th Battalion, 100th Regiment’s 89B10 Ammunition Supply Course load ammunition pallets using an All-Terrain Lifter, Army System forklift during course operations Feb. 28, 2017, at Fort McCoy. The four-week course provides training for Soldiers who are reclassifying to the 89B military occupational specialty — a specialty that’s in high demand throughout the Army. The 13th Battalion, 100th Regiment is an ordnance battalion that provides training and training support to Soldiers in the ordnance maintenance MOS series. The unit, aligned under the 3rd Brigade, 94th Division of the 80th Training Command, has been at Fort McCoy since about 1995. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

03.13.2017

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                        

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

Twenty Soldiers from across the Army became new “89-Bravos” as they completed training in the 89B10 Ammunition Supply Course with the 13th Battalion, 100th (13th, 100th) Regiment at Fort McCoy.

The four-week course provides training for Soldiers who are reclassifying to the 89B military occupational specialty (MOS) — a specialty that’s in high demand throughout the Army. By Army definition, ammunition supply specialists are “Soldiers responsible for the management of ordnance to include ammunition and explosives.”

The 13th, 100th is an ordnance battalion that provides training and training support to Soldiers in the ordnance maintenance MOS series. The unit, aligned under the 3rd Brigade, 94th Division of the 80th Training Command, has been at Fort McCoy since about 1995.

Soldiers who are 89B-qualified are tasked with receiving, storing, and issuing conventional ammunition, guided missiles, large rockets, explosives, and other ammunition and explosive-related items. During the two phases of the course, the students learn all of the entry-level basics about the course, said course manager Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Dobitz.
Phase one focuses on basic work, such as ammunition and equipment familiarization, paperwork procedures, and demolitions training, Dobitz said. Phase two includes more hands-on training, such as equipment operation and use of the Palletized Load System. Upon successful completion of both phases of the course, students are awarded the 89B MOS.

Sgt. Chad Brubaker, a student in the course with Florida National Guard’s 3116th Forward Support Company, said the training has helped him gain some specialized skills.

“This course will help me be more efficient at my job and will make me feel more like I am contributing to my unit’s mission,” Brubaker said. “I’m also looking forward to holding (training) with fellow Soldiers about what I have learned here. This gives me a chance to teach as well as step into a leadership role, which is new to me.”

During the first phase of training, students also have a demolition day, which is popular among the trainees.

“During demo day, the students learn the systems to prevent enemy capture of ammunition,” Dobitz said. “It’s a critical training event in the field that provides those skills they would need, especially if they are deployed.”

Other critical skills gained by students include learning how to identify, package, store, and ship all types of ammunition. The students also become familiarized with various types of equipment that’s typically associated with the 89B field, such as extreme terrain, 10,000-pound capable forklifts as well as military trucks capable of hauling ammunition.

“The training program gives students a well-rounded idea of what it means to be a part of this career field,” Dobitz said.

The 13th, 100th also has plenty of space available to meet the training capacity, including six classrooms, a laboratory, motor pool, and a multiuse ammunition storage point, Dobitz said.

For many of the students, they appreciated the knowledge of the six core instructors who teach the 89B courses at the 13th, 100th.

“The knowledgeable instructors guided us to success by not only explaining the requirements, but instructing it in a way that all the Soldiers understood the criteria,” said student Spc. Keith Sapp with the Illinois National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters at Springfield. “The instructors, without a doubt, was the best part of the course. Their ability to help us succeed and understand while remaining professional was amazing.”

Sgt. Luis Espinoza with the 300th Sustainment Brigade of Grand Prairie, Texas, said his student experience will help him know more about the capabilities of his unit’s ammunition storage point.

“I also will finally have the ability to know and conduct ammunition operations at the sustainment brigade level,” Espinoza said.

This class of students is one of many for fiscal year 2017 by the 13th, 100th. The unit began a training expansion this fiscal year that includes the addition of an 89B Senior Leader Course, Advanced Leadership Course, and courses for the 89A ammunition stock control and accounting specialist MOS.

“The training expansion is a big deal for us and for Fort McCoy,” Dobitz said. “This expansion of training is an effort that started about four years ago and was approved in the past year by the Army. Now, every Soldier in the Army who is reclassifying into the 89B MOS trains here at Fort McCoy. All new Soldiers will continue to complete the 89B advanced individual training at Fort Lee (Va.).”

For more information about 13th, 100th training, call 608-388-9251.

• Date Taken: 03.13.2017
• Date Posted: 03.13.2017 12:56
• Story ID: 226656
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US
• Hometown: FORT GREGG-ADAMS, VA, US
• Hometown: GRAND PRAIRIE, TX, US