Armor company conducts crew gunnery qualifications

Soldiers from Company D, 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conducted crew gunnery certifications, April, 25-29, 2015, at the Udairi Range Complex near Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Soldier's qualified on both M1A2 Abrams Tanks and on the Bradley fighting Vehicles during both day and night iterations.

"The purpose of this training is to ensure our Bradley and tank teams are proficient and working well together," said Sgt. 1st Class Victor Alarcon, platoon sergeant, Company D, 1st Bn., 66th Armor Reg.

1st Bn., 66th Armor Reg., is an armor unit that has increased its capacity to become a combined arms battalion, fitted with an infantry company.

"Having multiple weapons platforms allows you to do different things like dismount into urban environments and mounted and mechanized infantry and tank operations," said Spc. Terence Brown, infantryman, Company D, 1st Bn., 66th Armor Reg.

Abram tank crews fired from their M256, 120mm smoothbore guns and Bradley crews from their main gun, a M242 Bushmaster 25mm chain gun, in order to take down targets during each of the gunnery tables.

"The elements working together increase the lethality of our unit. It also increases our versatility," said Terence.

Getting to this stage of gunnery qualifications takes a lot of training and time spent together as a crew, building on the basics.

"My team is always working together to improve on the things we need to work on," said Terence. "The driver ensures that the vehicle is on a stable platform while vehicle commander points out the targets so that I can get the cross hairs on the target. We work well together as a team."

The dust and sand of the Udairi Range Complex makes for a challenging environment to conduct operations, said Alarcon.

"Success starts with Soldiers conducting preventive maintenance long before qualifications, making sure your equipment is mission capable," Alarcon said. "You've got to make sure that everything is and stays functional despite the environment you are operating in."

Each crew conducted several levels of certifications before engaging targets at the range during the qualification tables. These certifications included over 30 exercises and a gunnery skills test in order to ensure teams are prepared to fire live rounds at the range.

"We had to become proficient at tasks such as assembly and disassembly of the guns," said Brown. "It shows when teams have successfully completed training prior to the range."

All Abrams tank and Bradley crews in the unit were qualified during this event, allowing the unit to take the next step in increasing its readiness and proficiency.

"Now that each section is certified, we're going to conduct platoon certifications to become even more of a cohesive platoon," Alarcon said.

1st Bn., 66th Armor Reg., 3rd ABCT continues its deployment to Kuwait, promoting peace, partnership, and stability throughout the region.