42nd Military Police Brigade light up Yakima Training Center skies

By Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Aird (42nd MP BDE)April 20, 2016

Operation Belt Fed
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Operation Belt Fed
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers from the 42nd Military Police Brigade prepare ammunition during Operation Belt Fed at Yakima Training Center April 5, 2016. Soldiers from the brigade are at Yakima Training Center to train and qualify on MK-19 Automatic Grenade Launcher, M24... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Operation Belt Fed
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers from the 42nd Military Police Brigade engage targets with the MK-19 Automatic Grenade Launcher during Operation Belt Fed at Yakima Training Center April 6. Operation Belt Fed is a range density exercise designed to train and qualify all unit... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

The sounds of gunfire could be heard throughout the day and night at Yakima Training Center. World War III hadn't started- Soldiers from the 42nd Military Police Brigade were shooting targets with machine guns and automatic grenade launchers during Operation Belt Fed.

"Operation Belt Fed is a range density exercise with a main effort to train and qualify all units under the 42nd Military Police Brigade," said Sgt. 1st Class Carlos A. Pizarro, 508th Military Police Battalion.

Soldiers from the brigade visited Yakima Training Center to train and qualify on MK-19 Automatic Grenade Launcher, M240B Machine Gun, M2 50 Caliber Machine Gun, and M249 Light Machine Gun April 3-9.

The 42nd Military Police Brigade organized the range density at Yakima Training Center to better enable subordinate units to train and qualify their Soldiers on crew-served weapons. The 42nd Military Police Brigade has to juggle normal daily logistical, law enforcement and emergency services for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and maintain their warfighting proficiencies.

Operation Belt Fed also serves as an opportunity for all three battalions in the 42nd Military Police Brigade to work together on a common mission. The diverse missions of each subordinate battalion can make it challenging for the brigade to train as a single unit. The 504th Military Police Battalion, 508th Military Police Battalion (D), and the 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion each ran separate weapons ranges and trained each other's Soldiers at Yakima Training Center. Each also planned and supervised a different aspect of the mission, such as food service operations and ammunition management.

"Ranges are limited at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for crew-served weapons," according to Pizarro.

The hardest part of Operation Belt Fed was the logistics of the operation. Yakima Training Center is almost a three hour drive from Joint Base Lewis McChord.

"The biggest challenge was moving weapons, equipment, and Soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to the Yakima Training Center," said Pizarro.

Soldiers in the 42nd Military Police Brigade don't handle and shoot crew-served weapons on a daily basis.

"We had a lot of good guidance and pre-training leading up to these ranges," said Pfc. Sotero Dulay, 66th Military Police Company. "This is the first time I've shot a weapon system this big."

Before Soldiers arrived for Operation Belt Fed they went through a hands-on weapon familiarization class at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Once they arrive at Yakima Training Center they go through the same class again, said Pizarro. Prior experience has shown that Soldiers who go through a weapons familiarization class perform better during qualification.

The prior training enabled the brigade, during Operation Belt Fed, to train and qualify nearly 400 Soldiers on crew-served weapons and range operations, said Capt. Jeffrey C Stapler, 42nd Military Police Brigade.

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