Courtesy Photo | Soldiers from the 63rd Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Company...... read more read more
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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – U.S. Army Chemical Corps Soldiers recently earned “Top Gun” honors during a gunnery training exercise on Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Soldiers from the 63rd Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Company “Dragon Masters” took top honors during a gunnery exercise with units from the 21st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
Spc. Christian Rosario from St. Cloud, Florida, was the driver and Staff Sgt. Alexandria Rodrigeuz from Hancock, New York, was the vehicle commander and gunner on the Top Gun crew.
The Dragon Masters crew out shot 12 combat maneuver crews by scoring over 100 points better than the other participating crews.
The Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 63rd CBRN Company is assigned to the 2nd CBRN Battalion, 48th Chemical Brigade and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. military’s premier multifunctional CBRNE headquarters.
From 19 bases in 16 states, Soldiers and Army civilians from 20th CBRNE Command take on the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and allied operations.
The Dragon Masters tame CBRN hazards during military operations and domestic missions.
The 63rd CBRN Company recently served on the Defense CBRN Response Force (DCRF) in support of U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force-Civil Support.
The DCRF saves lives, mitigates suffering and facilitates recovery operations in a CBRN environment to support civil authorities. The task force conducts Defense Support to Civil Authority response operations planning and preparedness to ensure mission readiness.
The Dragon Masters primarily operate the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) Stryker during gunnery exercises.
The NBCRVs provide surveillance and detection capabilities to support combat operations. To operate on hostile terrain, the M1135 NBCRV Stryker is armed with M2 mounted 50-caliber machine guns and a Remote Weapons System.
During the exercise, the vehicle commanders are required to demonstrate proficiency with both the M2 50-caliber machine gun and the Remote Weapons System.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Johnathon Strawbrich, the 1st Mountain Reconnaissance Platoon leader with the 63rd CBRN Company, said the Dragon Masters conduct gunnery exercises twice a year with maneuver units from Fort Campbell or with other companies from the 2nd CBRN Battalion.
Strawbrich, a native of Hamburg, New York, and graduate of Norwich University, said teamwork and leadership are the keys to success in gunnery exercises.
“They must excel in adaptability, communication and teamwork,” said Strawbrich. “Each member of the crew plays a vital role, and their collective success is critical. Effective communication under pressure while operating the weapon system is indispensable.”
Often called “enablers” because they safeguard maneuver forces, Army Chemical Corps Soldiers ensure ground troops can operate on a CBRNE contaminated battlefield.
Capt. Kacey M. Adams, the commander of the 63rd CBRN Company, said gunnery exercises validate that the Mounted Reconnaissance Platoon can support maneuver forces on the battlefield.
The Dragon Masters provide combat maneuver forces with mounted and dismounted CBRN reconnaissance and decontamination capabilities. The CBRN company also recently supported Operation Lethal Eagle III, a division-level training exercise with “Screaming Eagles” units from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
“Our company strives to be more than just an enabler for maneuver units to utilize. We want to be a combat multiplier as well,” said Adams. “Executing gunnery well proves that we can support our maneuver counterparts in more ways than our CBRN capabilities.”
A native of Middleton, Tennessee, and graduate of the Virginia Polytechnical University, Adams has deployed to Mosul, Iraq.
“I became a CBRN Officer because of the science and technical aspects of our job,” said Adams. “The Chemical Corps is a diverse community of enablers and combat multipliers because we train for combat as other Soldiers do but we also have a very in-depth technical side as well.”
| Date Taken: | 09.26.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.26.2023 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 454357 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: | HAMBURG, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | HANCOCK, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | MIDDLETON, TENNESSEE, US |
| Hometown: | ST. CLOUD, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 306 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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