4-319th AFAR conducts Battalion wide exercise

Photo By Staff Sgt. Christopher Stewart | U.S. Army Paratrooper Sergeant Larry Dockins, 1st Platoon howitzer section chief, assigned to Bull Battery, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, reads digital target information just before his team fires the M119A3 Howitzer during exercise “Iron Triangle 20,” at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, May 27, 2020. The battalion-wide exercise is part of an annual certification of the artillery battalion’s capabilities and competencies. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Christopher Stewart)  

GRAFENWOEHR, BY, GERMANY

06.03.2020

Story by Sgt. Christopher Stewart 

173rd Airborne Brigade

Grafenwoehr, Germany— The 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment (4-319th AFAR), 173rd Airborne Brigade, conducted a battalion-wide exercise, dubbed “Iron Triangle 20,” as part of an annual certification of the artillery battalion’s capabilities and competencies from May 25-29, 2020.

“The Artillery Table XVIII qualification is the annual collective training requirement that qualifies the artillery battalion to plan and control artillery fires,” said Major Justin Thorkildsen, the battalion operations officer of 4-319th AFAR. “Critical to the success of the qualification is the ability to mass the effects of the battalion against the enemy in support of brigade operations with timely and accurate fires.”

The exercise required participation from all units within the battalion to complete this mission: from sustainment operations, including rearm, refuel, and resupply point (R3P) operations, to maintenance operations, and artillery fire missions, with the goal of sending accurate and timely munitions downrange.

Capt. Nicholas Chung, Bull battery’s commander, says that what sets this exercise apart from other training they’ve done in the past is that this exercise gives him and his battery a chance to employ all the company’s platoons.

“When it comes to supporting different maneuver elements through a variety of exercises, sometimes the mission requires us to be split into different platoons, to support multiple elements,” said Chung. “With this (exercise), not only do we get to fight as a battery, but we get to fight as a battalion and we get to coordinate with adjacent units, synchronizing our fires in support of our battalion to meet the commander’s intent.”
Throughout the entire exercise, the Paratroopers of 4-319th AFAR conducted training while implementing mitigation measures to reduce the risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

“Every Paratrooper here has to have a bottle of hand sanitizer,” said 1LT Daniel Wilson, the assistant S-3. “Anyone inside a gun truck or the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) is wearing a cloth mask, and every 4 hours, we wipe down any commonly-used items in the TOC and every gun team does the same.”

The Paratroopers of 4-319th AFAR are preparing for future exercises where they will support the 173rd Airborne Brigade in a brigade-wide training. “It’s not often, especially in this COVID-19 environment, that you get the time to truly focus on your job and focus on your training,” said Wilson. “We’re just trying to take advantage of that during this exercise.”

• Date Taken: 06.03.2020
• Date Posted: 06.04.2020 08:14
• Story ID: 371335
• Location: GRAFENWOEHR, BY, DE