2ABCT completes FiST Certs

Photo By Sgt. Patrick Eakin | Camp Casey, Republic of Korea: Soldiers from 1-8 Cav and 1-9 Cav take time to plot their points before starting a Land Navigation course on September 8, 2017. The land navigation course is but one of several requirements each Soldier must successfully complete as part of their Fire Support Team (FIST) certification.  

CAMP CASEY, 41, SOUTH KOREA

09.08.2017

Story by Sgt. Carolyn Hart 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

CAMP CASEY, South Korea – The Soldiers of 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, completed their biannual Fire Support (FiST) certification courses at Camp Casey for fire support specialists and Officers of 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Division, September 6-8.

This certification course validates Soldiers both mounted and dismounted on fire support planning and execution at the company and platoon level, to ensure mission readiness and proficiency.

“The FiST certification is a three day training event for our fire support specialists,” said 2nd Lt. Amanda Swihart, fire support officer, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Division, 2ABCT. “We go through this training every six months to ensure our ability to perform our duties safely and effectively.”

The course was broken down to a three-day event, which included a written test, operating a Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR), recognition of combat vehicles (ROC-V) exam, artillery skills proficiency test (ASPT), calls for fire, ending with day and night land navigation.

“We had two weeks of training to prepare for this certification process,” said Lt. Rex Swindlehurst, assistant brigade fire support officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team. “We had to validate the evaluators so that they could come out and train the Soldiers, write the tests for each skill level and resource the land for the training.”

Each training event was timed and the three-day course followed a strict timeline. The last of which being the land navigation course.
“The terrain is mostly hills and very all wooded area,” said Spc. John Sennezy, fire support specialist assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Division. “It’s important to get your step counts in beforehand so that you don’t run in to issues while you’re on the course.”

Soldiers were given three hours to complete the course and find four out five points during the day and at least three out of four points during the night land navigation portion.

The training requirements to complete the certification process challenge Soldiers both physically and mentally, and ensures that both new and experienced Soldiers are proficient in their FiST artillery skills.

“Not having as much experience in this job as some of the others, this was definitely a challenge,” said Pvt. First Class James Rodney, fire support specialist with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Division. “The land navigation course was fun because it gave me a chance to be out and practice the skills that I was taught in school.”

All the tasks and skills test were graded in accordance with the 2nd Infantry Division Red Book and the Gunnery Manual.

By the end of the certification courses, 26 fire support specialists in the battalion will have reviewed, trained and mastered their skill level tasks.

“This is an important mission and a very important job,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 William Beale, brigade targeting officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team. “Our job is to protect the infantrymen with fire support. If we don’t do our job affectively, they can’t do theirs.”

• Date Taken: 09.08.2017
• Date Posted: 10.18.2017 23:55
• Story ID: 252230
• Location: CAMP CASEY, 41, KR