Photo By Staff Sgt. Frank Brown | SWEITOSZOW, Poland -- A Soldier from the 500th Engineer Support Company, 15th Engineer...... read more read more
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SWEITOSZOW, Poland – Right ahead of the first fire command being given, before the first round goes downrange, before steel meets target, organizations must be proficient in their weapons systems.
This brings us to Presidential Range in Sweitoszow, Poland where the 500th Engineer Support Company (ESC), 15th Engineer Battalion works to construct shelters for Moving Armored Targets (MAT). The project is part of Resolute Castle, in conjunction with Atlantic Resolve operations to build upon training sites for multinational forces.
In order to meet qualification requirements for tracked vehicle gunnery, Soldiers must engage stationary and moving targets, placed in tactical arrays from a station and/or moving vehicle. Installing MAT structures enables units who rotate from the states to maintain proficiency in their designated vehicles.
The MAT will be the first permanent structure of its kind in the Atlantic Resolve area of operations. The structure consists of a Gabion Wall (a wall made of cages or baskets filled with rocks) which protects the shelters from incoming tank rounds. The shelters house the targets, protecting them from the elements when they are not in use.
Presidential Range definitely isn’t a vacation spot, but had some of the characteristics, which created a small challenge. 1st Lt. Harrison Heath, Executive Officer for the 500th ESC said,
“The range is composed mostly of deep loose sand, like you’d find at a beach which makes construction difficult. “
To jumpstart the project, the 500th deployed eight Soldiers to Poland nearly a month ahead of the mission to prepare the ground for construction. Before the main body arrived, the group had constructed almost 1500m of an access road, exceeding expectations and setting the framework for the company to accomplish its mission. The Soldiers often ran continuous, 24-hour operations for over two weeks in order to complete the structure in a timely manner.
Bobby Lightner, construction liaison with 7th Army Training Command, is responsible for range development for European Reassurance Initiative (ERI) countries throughout Europe and has worked with the 15th for two years. He inspected the project on 2 June.
“The 15th Engineer Battalion is a very professional organization to work with. They accomplished all mission requirements without fail”, said Lightner. “These projects enable rotational units to “Stay Ready” in accordance with Army Objective-T standards. “
Resolute Castle is a key exercise that provides the opportunity to demonstrate the Engineers’ capabilities.
| Date Taken: | 06.02.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.20.2017 04:43 |
| Story ID: | 238478 |
| Location: | SWEITOSZOW, PL |
| Web Views: | 659 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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