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    Aviation battalion builds confidence in capabilities

    CAMP HUMPHREYS, SOUTH KOREA

    11.15.2019

    Story by Sgt. Courtney Davis 

    2nd Combat Aviation Brigade

    Aviation battalion builds confidence in capabilities

    By Sgt. Courtney Davis
    2nd Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs

    CAMP HUMPHREYS, Republic of Korea - Crew members with Bravo Company, 3rd General Support Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, headed toward the skies at Biseung Range for an aerial gunnery Sept. 26.
    The routine in-flight training helps aviators increase their technical and tactical proficiency with the CH-47 Chinook aircraft and qualify on their assigned equipment and weapon systems while improving overall operational readiness.
    “Gunnery was a riveting experience, Pfc. Charles Engren, Quincy, Massachusetts native, and Bravo Company, 3-2 GSAB crew chief. “Getting to practice the crew-coordination and call required in a real life situation definitely raised my confidence in my ability, and the trust I have in my fellow crew chiefs.”
    The crew must pass a series of tests known as “tables” to achieve qualification with the aircraft.
    “We have certain tables based off our regulations and specific tasks we must achieve to get our crews qualified,” said Capt. Chad Thayer, a Miami native, and Bravo Company, 3-2 GSAB company commander. “That’s why we go out and shoot.”
    The 12 tables are designed for aviators to gain confidence in both their weapon systems and ability to work as a team, or “crew.”
    “We have a wealth of knowledge with the noncommissioned officers here,” Thayer said. “With the new guys coming out of Advanced Individual Training, we watch their confidence increase as the exercise progresses.”
    The new aviators improved their individual and crew roles and functioned in a simulated combat environment.
    “We like to induce stress because combat is stressful,” Thayer said. “They need to be …comfortable operating behind a weapon in those conditions. When the time comes that they must use the weapon, they will be able to effectively put the round where it is needed.”
    The entire operation of gunners firing at designated targets is a simultaneous coordination between aircraft crew members and assets on the ground. The pilot in command, air mission commander, and pilot instructor collectively communicate with Soldiers in the rear of the aircraft who are providing surveillance to the right and the left of the aircraft.

    During the final night gunnery, the gunners placed their hands on their weapons and slowly squeezed, piercing the quiet night sky with the sound of weapons fire. The rounds flashed as they flew through the air, effectively impacting their intended targets.
    Soldiers across 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade routinely conduct gunnery to become increasingly proficient in their warrior tasks and skills. While the gunneries themselves are routine, regular and frequent gunneries are crucial to providing Soldiers with the kind of tough and realistic training they need to become experts in their field.
    -S2N-

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.15.2019
    Date Posted: 11.15.2019 06:22
    Story ID: 351864
    Location: CAMP HUMPHREYS, KR
    Hometown: BLAIRSVILLE, GA, US
    Hometown: MIAMI, FL, US
    Hometown: QUINCY, MA, US
    Hometown: WOODLAND PARK, CO, US
    Hometown: ST. CROIX, VI

    Web Views: 40
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN