Photo By Sgt. Jessica DuVernay | A U.S. Army M109 howitzer with Charlie Battery, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas -- The 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team "Greywolf," 1st Cavalry Division, conducted their Best By Test across Fort Hood over the last three weeks.
"A Best By test is a battalion run event that the firing batteries participate in and it allows us to determine who the best cannon section and fire direction section are in the battalion," explained Cpt. Nicholas Lemza, commander, C battery.
Batteries participated in a number of events to determine who the best battery is within 2-82 FA. The events included an Army Physical Fitness Test, M4 rifle qualification, leader's reaction course, obstacle course, a series of technical tests to include the Artillery Skills Proficiency Test and artillery gunnery tables five and six.
"It’s essentially the same as the Top Gun, but that only refers to the gun sections," said Cpt. Will Woodruff, battalion fire direction officer. "So instead of saying Top Gun, which would be exclusive to the guns, we say Best By Test, which is the best section by testing."
The sections include cannon, fire control center and fire support teams. Along with finding out who the best sections are, the Best By test also allows for the battalion to remain current on their qualifications, which are required to be updated every six months. This also ensures the battalion’s readiness levels are maintained at fully mission capable.
"We are evaluating our readiness right now." Lemza explained. "The whole point of the test is to see who is the most proficient in the battalion and we can take the lessons learned from that section and apply it to the rest of the formation to get us all up to the same level of proficiency."
As readiness remains a top priority for the Army, it’s best for high functioning units that their recertification periods are turned into morale boosters for the Soldiers.
According to Woodruff, making a task like qualification into a competition sparks the competitive spirit in the teams.
"When they see their name on the bottom of the list, they are pumping up their guys and talking trash to the other platoons," said Woodruff. "It’s a friendly competition and I think we will be pleased with the results.”
Greywolf returned from a nine-month deployment to Kuwait last November. Since then they have received and prepared their equipment for continued combat readiness.
"We are doing a great job out here in terms of turning around so quickly from Kuwait," Lemza said. "I think that we are going to be ready to go if the flag goes up.”
The overall best gun section was B23 from 2nd platoon, Bravo Battery and the overall best Fire Direction Center was 1st platoon, A Battery. The best fire support team was team attached to Bravo Company, 2-7 Cavalry Regiment.
| Date Taken: | 02.15.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 02.20.2018 18:52 |
| Story ID: | 266585 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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