SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HAWAII -- Soldiers assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, polish their skills with a live fire exercise, here, Sept. 22.
"The intent of this training was for my guys to certify and work on a variety of different fire missions," said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pisano, first sergeant and a native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
The Artillery Soldiers trained day and night for live fire verification with a M119 Howitzer in efforts to become experts in their field. This is vital during deployments as these Soldiers must be able to respond quickly to situations which may arise.
"This will sharpen their skills immensely," said Pisano. The only way you can get better at your job is training. This is how you get proficient at your MOS."
The training exercise included illumination missions that shed light on targets and fire support missions that would suppress or eliminate enemies.
"Field artillery is considered the king of battle and we're here to support the troops on the ground," said Pisano. We train because it's important to send steel downrange, but we have to do it safely and in a timely manner."
Sending rounds downrange is important to Sgt David Beckum, team chief and hails from Lakeland, Florida. He takes his job very seriously as he has saved lives on the battlefield in the past.
It was a hot day in Iraq and an infantry squad found themselves in a firefight. It seemed as if the rounds were not slowing down and they were in trouble. It was time to call for fire support. Beckum and his team shot rounds to suppress the enemy.
He recalls an infantryman approaching him in a dining facility and thanking him for saving his life.
"He told me we would have lost some brothers in arms if we didn't suppress the enemy that day," said Beckum.
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