Iron Thunder rolls again 4-27th Field Artillery conducts air artillery raid during NIE 12.2

Photo By Sgt. Sean Harriman | The soldiers of B Battery, 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, prepare to notionally fire upon opposing force anti-air weaponry during an air artillery raid May 20, on White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The operation, just one of many held over the course of the eight-week Network Integration Evaluation, allows the soldiers an opportunity to use and provide feedback on current and future network capabilities in order to help Army leaders decide on whether or not to purchase and field the equipment.  

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NM, UNITED STATES

05.20.2012

Story by Sgt. Sean Harriman 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. – "In the rear with the gear" is the age-old adage of the U.S. Army artillery. For the soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, the age-old is quickly making way for the new.

On May 20, the soldiers of 4-27th Field Artillery conducted an air artillery raid in order to provide indirect fire support against an opposing forces location during a large scale operation during the Network Integration Evaluation 12.2.

Being the third air artillery raid that B Battery, 4-27th FA, has conducted, the battery commander cited the value of repetition for operations such as these.

“This has been much smoother,” said Capt. Stephen Warde, commander, B Battery, 4-27th FA. “Every time we do one of these, we learn something new.”

Typically in a combat scenario, the job of artillery is to provide indirect fire support on locations from considerable distances away. During this operation, however, the artillerymen use the nearby air assets of 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade to fly them closer to the fight.

“This training is absolutely beneficial,” Warde said. “There aren’t many units in the Army that have the training tempo that we have.”
What is the reason behind such a high training tempo? Network Integration Evaluation.

The NIE is a series of evaluations that puts soldiers at the forefront of network and non-network technologies, training them on and giving them an opportunity to use new equipment in the robust operational environment of the Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range, N.M., training areas.

After more than seven weeks of intense, high tempo training, the Army collects all of the data and feedback from soldiers on the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of the new technology and uses that information to determine whether or not to purchase and field the equipment. This process, deemed the "Agile Process," is a fast, cost-efficient way of evaluating and closing gaps in the areas of military capabilities.

Sgt. 1st Class K. Sean Peterson, a platoon sergeant and fire battery chief, had some positive feedback for the new range that the battery could communicate at.

“The new communications systems expand our communication distance … and it broadens our opportunities across the battlefield,” he said.

For an artilleryman, distance and effectiveness go hand-in-hand.
“If these systems are refined and working how they should be, they will expand our horizons in terms of how far we can reach,” Peterson said.

Despite the acquisition status of these technologies still being on the horizon, the training at the troop level is unequaled throughout the Army.

“We have specialists and privates first class who will be better at their job than some units, because we’ve done it before,” said Sgt. Joshua Gilson, a section chief of B Battery, 4-27th FA.

Joshua, who has deployed twice previously as an artilleryman, knows how to appreciate training opportunities like the ones in 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.

“These guys will definitely be prepared for a deployment,” Joshua said. “Mentally, physically and training-wise.”

For some soldiers, it is difficult seeing the long-term goals of the NIE and the benefit that it has on the U.S. Army’s safety, efficiency and effectiveness as a whole. Warde, however, knows that these soldiers will be thankful for the training opportunities that they have while they’re here.

“Being away from home in a foreign environment, fighting against an enemy or opposing force that operates similarly to an enemy like the Taliban are all excellent ways to help prepare these soldiers for combat,” Warde said. “I think they’ll appreciate what this unit has done for them.”

• Date Taken: 05.20.2012
• Date Posted: 05.23.2012 11:53
• Story ID: 88881
• Location: WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NM, US