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    Artillery unit hones in on their target

    Artillery unit hones in on their target

    Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Banzhaf | An M109A6 Paladin from the Battery A, 114th Field Artillery Regiment, 155th Armored...... read more read more

    FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

    03.31.2018

    Story by Sgt. Brandon Banzhaf 

    24th Theater Public Affairs Support Element

    FORT BLISS, Texas. – A convoy rolls through the desert weaving around sand dunes and kicking up a trail of dust as they move.

    When they stop, the M109A6 Paladins park on the outskirts of their new temporary base with the support vehicles falling in behind them.

    Waves of explosions erupt from the artillery pieces as they fire rounds into the air capable of reaching over 26,000 meters away.

    Soon after, they roll out again.

    Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 144th Field Artillery Regiment, 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team “Dixie Thunder”, Mississippi National Guard performed its’ platoon level qualification table, March 31 at Fort Bliss, Texas.

    The Mississippi-based unit came to Fort Bliss to perform mobilization activities in order to validate and deploy to the Middle East in the U.S. Army Central Command’s area of responsibility.

    “During table 12, we get many fire missions and we conduct multiple convoy operations between firing points to give us the opportunity to fire in different locations,” said 1st Lt. Brandon Berry, a West Point, Mississippi native and platoon leader with Battery A. “We occupy our weapon systems in different locations to make sure they are working properly and to get these guys multiple opportunities to train in the different environments that Fort Bliss offers us.”

    The battery can fire from fixed positions or when they receive fire missions while on the move.

    “Table XII involves various fire missions for our platoon to fire on multiple targets that way we can hit different fire mission objectives to get qualified on the table and improve on our fire mission capabilities for our mission further down range,” said Berry.

    Every Paladin is linked to the fire direction center, which is linked to the higher headquarters. The FDC acts as the unit’s communications hub that handles all fire missions, tracks firing information and directs the guns when to engage.

    “We [enforce] all of the safety standards,” said Spc. Taquaveon Wilson, a field artillery automated tactical data systems specialist with the battery. “My job in the FDC is to keep the ammo count and write out down the record of fire just in case a gun fires out of the safety box to track what happened and what went wrong,”

    The orders traveling from the higher to the FDC to the Paladins take about a minute to be passed down and confirmed before the thunderous boom can be heard throughout the training area.

    “The importance of artillery is basically getting the round down range as quickly and as safely as you can,” said Wilson. “We tell the guns when to fire, what it can fire, what type of missions they are and how many rounds.”

    As Paladin fires, it fills with smoke and dust in the crew compartment, not leaving a single surface untouched with sand.

    Sgt. Quan Sharkey, a Kosciusko, Mississippi native, and cannon crewmember with Battery A, and his crew fired 16 rounds throughout the day as they moved to from location to location.

    “I have a gunner and his basic job is to verify after me,” said Sharkey. “I also have the cannoneer and what he does is load the round and pulls the lanyard to fire.”

    Sharkey and his team live and operate out of their Paladin during the field exercises spending a lot of time with each other in such a small space.

    “The training is strenuous but all of my Soldiers are in tiptop shape, they are motivated and they love being in the field,” said 1st Lt. Berry. “We are enjoying our time out here; it is strenuous and tiring but at the end of the day we train to go fight whatever mission we have put forth in our hands.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 03.31.2018
    Date Posted: 05.16.2018 16:13
    Story ID: 271995
    Location: FORT BLISS, TX, US
    Hometown: KOSCIUSKO, MS, US
    Hometown: WEST POINT, MS, US

    Web Views: 25
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN