Photo By Staff Sgt. Reece Heck | Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Field Artillery...... read more read more
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FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. - Soldiers performed live-fire training on the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to qualify at annual training (AT), Friday. Soldiers worked in tandem to help execute the complex and detail-oriented training aimed at long-range combat.
The live-fire rounds, M28A2 Reduced Range Practice Rockets, give Soldiers realistic training, but with a reduced range and impact.
The HIMARS qualification is a three-step process that requires perfect cohesion among the Soldiers participating.
The first step is communication between mission control and the battle desk in the field. The in field battle desk receives word that they can alert the HIMARS crew in the field to launch their rockets.
Oklahoma Army National Guardsman Sgt. 1st Class Misty Reichenvach, the senior fire direction control sergeant for Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Field Artillery Brigade, is one of the cogs working in this well-oiled machine.
“We process the mission in the box, then send word to all others to check for safety,” Reinchevach said. “My job is important in delivering safe and accurate fires to neutralize, destroy and defeat all targets.”
The second component to launching rockets is the ammunition and its transportation to the launch point. This year’s AT will be the first time in several years that the unit’s ammunition section took ammunition, or pods, from 90th Troop Command’s Alpha Forward Support Company, 120th Engineer Battalion, to the launchers and created ammo supply and reload on their own.
“This is an incredibly critical task because training pods are empty, while these are live,“ said Sgt. Chris Edlebeck, a HIMARS crew sergeant with the battalion.
The third component of the mission is the physical firing of the HIMARS. The HIMARS machine launches one round at a time, sending a rocket flying through the air so quickly it breaks the sound barrier.
“We fire rockets resulting in tremendous destruction, making us one of the most lethal forces in the military,” said Pfc. Justin Howe, a HIMARS crew specialist with Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery Regiment.
| Date Taken: | 06.07.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.11.2019 12:27 |
| Story ID: | 326258 |
| Location: | FORT CHAFFEE, AR, US |
| Web Views: | 485 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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