FORT SILL, Okla. (May 22, 2014) -- Fired shots and expended-ammunition brass hitting the floorboard of a gunner's hatch resounded through the early morning calm as more than 40 Soldiers assigned to 15th Transportation Company, 75th Field Artillery Brigade, participated in a convoy live fire training exercise May 15 at Fort Sill.
Although the transportation company Soldiers normally drive the 44-ton, Palletized Load Systems truck, to complete logistical missions, they drove the course with the smaller, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, which was used as a gun truck platform.
"Since we have PLS drivers, sometimes we have to do our external security so we need to give [our Soldiers] time as drivers to learn tactics, techniques and procedures, and as convoy commanders," said 1st Lt. Erica Gaughan, the company's executive officer.
Many of the Soldiers were new to the unit and had never trained with weapons that were mounted on vehicles in a stress-enduring, teamwork-dependent environment.
"The purpose of this training was to get the Soldiers familiar with shooting, moving and communicating on the range with live [ammunition]," said Staff Sgt. Johnny Thomas Jr., motor transportation operator and convoy commander.
Gaughan added the training gave the logisticians a new aspect of convoys from the perspective of a gunner in a gun truck who would normally be assigned to protect their convoys.
The three-stage training consisted of the Soldiers completing a dry-fire and blank ammunition familiarization run through the course. It culminated with a live-fire iteration, where Soldiers engaged stationary and moving targets with M240B machine guns.
One of the unit's newest Soldiers, who first shot the weapon system while in Basic Combat Training, was assigned a position in the gunner's hatch for the first time in his new Army career.
"I found it to be [easier] because it was a more stable shooting surface as we were stopped," said a highly confident Pvt. Patrick Mooney, motor transportation operator, gunner.
Mooney said the training taught him how to effectively communicate to his truck commander the identification and location of his enemy and to get permission to engage him. It also reinforced, for him, how to fire frequently and accurately, thereby developing his skills in combat situations.
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