Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Lemmons | A soldier from 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team,...... read more read more
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FORT KNOX, Ky. - Soldiers of Assassin Battery, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division once again brought the sound of 105-mm howitzer fire to Fort Knox during a recent field training exercise from Aug. 20-24.
This was the first time that the 70 soldiers of Assassin Battery had fired their 8 howitzers since the return of Duke Brigade last winter, and it was a relief for the soldiers to finally get rounds down range.
“We have been waiting for this,” said Spc. Ian Renteria, a gunner for 7th section, “We are finally showing what this battery can do.”
The exercise proved that Assassin Battery was ready to deliver safe, fast, and accurate fires in support of Duke Brigade by certifying all the crews to the Duke standard, and by calibrating the guns.
”Calibration is the process by which we determine the differences among howitzers and powders so that we can calculate a more accurate targeting solution” explained Staff Sgt. Jonathon Gomez, the fire direction center chief of 2nd Platoon. With calibration complete, maneuver units can now be even more confident that fires will be delivered accurately in support of their mission.
While calibration focused on equipment, certification focused on people. Certification live fire was the culmination of weeks of training that involved written tests and practical exercises. For many soldiers, the artillery skills being tested and evaluated represented new challenges and opportunities because many soldiers are now performing new roles or had performed maneuver missions while deployed. To make the challenge even greater, many sections did not even have a howitzer until only a couple of months ago.
Given all these challenges, the safe and accurate firing of over 1000 high explosives, smoke, and Illumination rounds is all the more impressive. While basic missions such as Adjust Fire and Fire for Effect comprised the bulk of the missions fired, advanced missions such as Coordinated Illumination and Quick Smoke were executed with precision. Sgt. Edward Green, a brand new howitzer section chief, credits the success to the friendly competition for the title of top gun.
“The competition pushed my section past our comfort level and brought out the very best of us in order to accomplish the mission."
In the end, every Assassin howitzer section and every FDC passed certification, and many did so with distinction.
Also of note was the successful usage of the pocket sized forward entry device during the exercise. The PFED is chronically underutilized in the Army, but Duke soldiers were able to conduct call for fire missions completely digitally with the device. The successful usage of the PFED can improve artillery reaction time and precision thus adding to the combat power of the Duke Brigade.
More than 1,000 rounds were fired quickly, accurately, and safely by Assassin Battery during the exercise. These 1,000 rounds are just the beginning for Assassin Battery as they stand ready to deliver precision fires in support of Duke Brigade in whatever training or deployments wait in the future.
| Date Taken: | 08.29.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.17.2012 08:41 |
| Story ID: | 94813 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 144 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Swift and Bold, 1-6 fires away, by SSG Michael Lemmons, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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