Photo By Staff Sgt. Andrew Valenza | New York National Guard Soldiers from Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 258th Field...... read more read more
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A redesigned 1st Battalion 258th Field Artillery and the transformation of the 27th Brigade Special Troops Battalion into the 152nd Brigade Engineer Battalion are making the New York National Guard’s 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team more lethal, according to officers responsible for the transition.
The 258th is picking up another battery of bigger guns, and also reorganizing the brigade’s fire support Soldiers as part of its redesign, said Lt. Col. Peter Mehling, the battalion commander.
The change from a Brigade Special Troops Battalion to an engineer battalion will provide more engineer support for the brigade – two engineer companies instead of one—while still providing a home for the brigade’s signal and intelligence companies, said Lt. Col. April Bennett, the battalion’s commander.
The changes to the 27th Brigade have been happening across the Army, Bennett said. The 27th is the last Guard brigade to make the transition, so there’s been a chance to learn from other units, she said.
The 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery formerly deployed two batteries with eight guns each of the M119A2 105 millimeter howitzer.
The two existing batteries have been configured to six guns and a new battery of M777A2 155 millimeter howitzers have been added. And the M119A2 howitzers in Alpha and Bravo batteries have been replaced by the M119A3, the latest version of the 105mm howitzer.
The new M119A3 has a GPS system built in, which allows the howitzer to self locate. This information is vital to accurate artillery fire, Mehling said.
The GPS system eliminates the need for surveying tools to locate the gun position, he said. The Soldiers, though, will still train using the analog methods as a contingency, Mehling added.
“The 119A2 was, for all intents and purposes, a dumb howitzer,” Mehling said. “The howitzer now has become, for lack of a better term, self-aware.” This is also true of the M777A2, 155mm Towed howitzer the battalion fielded.
The system also allows firing data to be transferred more quickly from the fire direction center to the guns, Mehling said.
Finally, the new version of the M-119 has a more reliable recoil system that allows for more responsive fires.
All of these features allow Alpha and Bravo batteries to put fire on an enemy sooner, Mehling said.
The addition of the towed M777A2 increases the range at which the brigade commander can hit enemy units, going from 14 km with the M119A2 to 24 km with the M777A2.
Additionally the M777A2 delivers a much larger projectile on target. Mehling said.
Finally, the M777A2 has the ability to fire GPS precision guided shells which can be used to eliminate targets with great accuracy.
“Because we are a light infantry brigade our maneuver forces are very good at finding and fixing the enemy, but they depend on fires to kill the enemy. With the M777A2 , the brigade commander has the ability to reach out much further with conventional and precision munitions to do just that” Mehling said.
To organize Charlie Battery, which fires the 155mm Towed M777A2, the battalion picked the best gunners out of Alpha and Bravo batteries to man the new gun crews, Mehling said.
Another big change is the assignment of the 27th brigade fire support team Soldiers to the 1st Battalion 258th, Mehling said.
Prior to the redesign, the brigade’s fire support team Soldiers had been assigned as part of the two infantry battalions. Now they are assigned to the field artillery battalion, and are attached back to the maneuver battalions.
That may sound like a small shift, but the consolidation means he and his officers and NCOs can ensure that they are getting the training they need to ensure the 27 brigade receives professional fire support when needed, Mehling said.
This places the responsibility for training field artillery Soldiers back under the subject matter experts in the field artillery battalion, he explained.
The transition from the 27th Brigade Special Troops Battalion to the 152nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, due to complete in September this year, began two years ago, Bennett said.
The change results in the Alpha Company of engineers in the special troop battalion being joined by a Bravo company. That means more engineers and more equipment to provide engineer coordination for combined arms maneuver, , counter-mobility, and survivability, Bennett said.
Alpha Company fields two combat engineer —or Sapper— platoons and an engineer support platoon which provides general engineering support, Bennett said.
Bravo Company fields a combat engineer platoon, an engineer support platoon and a route clearance platoon; ; equipped with Buffalo, a wheeled mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored vehicle, Bennett said.
The battalion also has a forward support company dedicated to keeping its engineer and other elements supplied, Bennett said.
Another change, which is also very important, is that the battalion’s headquarters company has been beefed up to allow better planning and command of engineer missions, Bennett said. This provides more capability to the brigade commander.
The new structure makes the 27th brigade more lethal in a fight against an enemy with modern capabilities, she said.
In the past, the New York Army National Guard’s engineer units have been based in central New York. The new Bravo Company will be headquartered at the Lexington Avenue Armory. This will allow engineers to be recruited in New York City, Bennett said.
The company is being manned with new recruits and Soldiers who were engineers once and have embraced the chance to be engineers again, Bennett said.
| Date Taken: | 06.24.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.29.2018 11:12 |
| Story ID: | 282286 |
| Location: | SYRACUSE , NY, US |
| Web Views: | 178 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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