Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Robert Jordan | Pfc. Kole Chandler, a Soldier assigned to B Co., 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment,...... read more read more
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More than 100 U.S. Army Soldiers of Bravo, Charlie and India Forward Support Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division executed live fire training at Smarden Training Area, Romania, July 5-12, 2018.
The training took place on numerous training ranges in support of Atlantic Resolve, an enduring Training exercise between U.S. and NATO forces. Their rotation to Eastern Europe enhances Soldiers skills and improves their readiness.
"You discover new limits when training," said Army Command Sgt. Maj. Aron Alexander, the senior enlisted advisor of the battalion.
The tough but realistic training began at dawn on the firing range as Soldiers made final checks on weapons and equipment. Leaders ordered Soldiers to their M2A3 Bradley fighting vehicles and M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks parked nearby.
Once the range was cleared for use, the Bradley crews sped off to their staging area. As they came to a stop the ramps lowered and the Soldiers dismounted to form a semicircle around their vehicles.
The squad leader gave the order to move out as Soldiers advanced in a wedge formation allowing them to spread out just enough to still maintain close contact with one another.
"It is the little things that save lives," Alexander said.
They advanced across the flat range toward a series of small berms spread out over a kilometer concealing potential targets. Behind the berms, targets simulating enemy soldiers and armed vehicles popped up at random from behind cover.
The squads broke into fire teams with each supporting the other as the squad leader coordinated the action through hand signals, radio and verbal commands.
Soldiers aggressively advanced forward pinning down the enemy and maneuvering into flanking positions. As one team got set in place another bounded forward at a sprint to close in on the targets.
Alexander urged his Soldiers to push themseves during the training "it tests our abilities."
The night filled with the constant bang/crack of the M4 carbine, M249 Squad Automatic machine guns and M240 machine guns firing into their targets. The first training scenario was fired with blanks then with live ammunition.
After the Soldiers advanced to the final objective at a bunker, they were faced with an unexpected twist.
"Gas, gas, gas!" they yelled.
Soldiers immediately pulled out their gas masks out rapidly securing them to their faces and returned to engage new targets.
Allowing the Soldiers no time to rest, the controller yelled "incoming" announcing a simulated artillery attack. One Soldier, a fake casualty, was struck to the leg and chest from the attack.
A two Soldier team rushed to the simulated casualty to apply a tourniquet to the leg and a specialized self-sealing bandage for chest wounds. They secured the Soldier to a lightweight litter sled and dragged the simulated casualty back to safety as the rest of the squad broke contact and returned to the Bradleys.
The solders rode back to the staging area in the Bradleys as the next group began the same scenario. Each team will complete several training runs on the range at night and in daylight.
"We are always learning," Alexander said.
Later in the week the tank and Bradley crews roared across the ranges. Behind the berms were targets representing enemy troops, vehicles and tanks.
The drivers maneuvered the large armored vehicles to cover and conceal them. The crews scanned for targets through high-tech viewfinders. When a target appeared, a commander had to decide what weapon system should be used to attack the enemy. The Bradley Fighting vehicle’s machine gun bullets and 25 mm cannon rounds cut across targets as leaders graded the crew on their accuracy and speed.
The rumble of the Bradleys’ diesel engines gave way to the whine of the tank’s 1,500 horsepower turbine engines. Several hundred yards away enemy tank targets appeared. The commander identified the target and called out their location and type of round to use. The loader slammed a nearly 3-foot-long shell into the cannon's breech. The gunner sights in and within seconds a 120mm antitank round slashed through the target.
"It reassures you when you fire that first round, you know what your equipment can do," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Truman Walls, a tank commander with C Company.
Soldiers conducted an after action review once the scenario came to an end. It is a quick frank discussion highlighting what worked and what needs improvement.
Alexander ended the review reminding them "if we don't do it here, we won't do it when it counts."
| Date Taken: | 07.30.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2018 08:24 |
| Story ID: | 286320 |
| Location: | SMARDAN, RO |
| Web Views: | 284 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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