Spartans receive first combat tracks

Photo By Pfc. Regan Riggs | Troopers of 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, received their M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicles Jan. 11, at Fort Stewart, Ga. This is the first of many combat tracked vehicles the Spartan Brigade will receive this year. The brigade is in the middle of converting into the Army’s 15th armored brigade combat team, the conversion will provide combatant commanders increased capabilities to address global threats. (U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. Regan Riggs/Released)  

FORT STEWART, GA, UNITED STATES

01.17.2018

Story by Pfc. Regan Riggs 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORT STEWART, Ga. - Troopers of 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, received their M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicles Jan. 11, at Fort Stewart, Ga.

As the brigade’s reconnaissance squadron, this gives 6-8 Cav their first combat platforms to begin training.  The cavalry fighting vehicles (CFV) entering 6-8 Cav’s motorpool also marks the first combat vehicles fielded to the Spartan Brigade since the announcement that it would convert to the Army’s 15th ABCT in late 2016.

The M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV) falls in the family of the Bradley Fighting Vehicles and is the reconnaissance variant fielded to armored cavalry units.  The brigade will sequentially field the various Bradley variants over the next couple of months to include the M2A2, infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), the Bradley fire support vehicles (B-FiST), and the engineer squad vehicle (ESV).

The M3 is an armored fighting vehicle equipped with a 25mm main gun, a Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missile and a 600hp Cummins diesel engine. This allows the Bradley to drive through mud, sand, small trees while engaging targets 2,500 meters away. While being able to destroy heavily armored vehicles two miles away.

“As part of converting into the Army’s 15th armored brigade combat team, we repurposed all of our light vehicles to various units within 3ID in 2017,” said 1st Lt. Andrew Clanton of 6-8 CAV.

The repurposing of light vehicles gives 2ABCT room for the incoming armored vehicles and establishes the foundation for an armored brigade.

Before driving the vehicles to the 2nd ABCT compound, the Soldiers were tasked with inspecting all equipment essential to the vehicles and conducting preventive maintenance checks and services on the Bradleys.

“Now that we have received our combat tracked vehicles, we will be setting our sights on gunnery, which is slated to take place this Spring,” said Clanton.

Gunnery is designed to train scout crews, sections, and platoons to employ their weapon systems effectively in a combat environment.

“We will conduct troop gunnery, then go straight into squadron gunnery,” said Clanton. “There’s really no breaks in between repurposing our vehicles, troop gunnery, and squadron gunnery.”

• Date Taken: 01.17.2018
• Date Posted: 01.17.2018 10:49
• Story ID: 262283
• Location: FORT STEWART, GA, US