FORT SILL, Okla. (May 15, 2014) -- Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery completed their Table I-V certifications during a weeklong field exercise that started May 5, on Fort Sill.
Though the unit recently deployed from a successful mission in the United Arab Emirates, the Steel Warriors wanted to increase their readiness and their proficiency in core competencies while preparing themselves for their next level training to include live-fire exercises in the upcoming months.
Lt. Col. J.P. Maddaloni, battalion commander, stressed to his Soldiers that he wanted each of his High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System crews, Fire Direction Center Soldiers and ammunition section teams to not only certify according to their standards, but perform their best to ensure that the battalion is postured for their upcoming live-fires and demonstrations.
"This week the battalion focused on section certifications across the entire Steel Warrior team with the help of our dynamic lane supervisors and evaluators who were positioned at critical points," said Maddaloni.
"Our most experienced leaders provided expert feedback to every section, something that I am impressed with because these Soldiers really heed the mentorship and coaching from our senior noncommissioned officers in the battalion."
Before rolling out to the field, the evaluations began with two paper tests administered at the unit headquarters. The Leaders Safety Test consisted of 50 multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions that focused on all areas of Soldier safety. Following the two hours allotted for the test, the Soldiers moved onto the HIMARS and Fire Direction Center Safety Test, ensuring that the Soldiers knew what to do if an emergency happened while in the line of duty.
Essential to mission success is communication, so the Steel Warriors sent their radios and other communications equipment out early, performing checks and keeping accountability of all training with up to the minute tracking. Equipment checks played a large role in the training, with repairs being done to communication equipment as well as the launchers and support vehicles.
"After our deployment to UAE this was the first opportunity to exercise my platoon's equipment; most importantly the HIMARS launchers," said 1st Lt. Christopher Robbins, firing platoon leader for B Battery.
The HIMARS certification gave the Soldiers and their leaders a look into their current status of readiness through launcher reloading, communications with the fire direction center, repairs to the launchers and the final task of calling in for the 696th Forward Support Company to quickly recover their simulated broken launcher. At the end of each lane a grader discussed what they did right and actions to improve upon. This allowed senior Soldiers to offer tips and advice to help fix areas that needed more work.
The Fire Direction Center (FDC) is the nucleus of rocket operations. Its Soldiers certified on their respective tables thoroughly and above standard.
This included navigating to a location based upon grid coordinates and transmitting dry fire missions to the HIMARS sections. Training exactly as they would perform in combat, the FDC's worked hard to promote pinpoint accuracy and quick reaction times, knowing that every second counts.
For the ammunition crews to certify, they had a 10-kilometer long lane that coincided with the HIMARS and FDC lanes. Following their briefing by the graders, they transported rocket pod containers to various link-up sites and then transferred the ammo to the HIMARS. Once the transfer was completed, the ammo crews quickly moved to a resupply point to drop off the empty containers and prepared to retrieve the containers of the ammo they had previously delivered.
The week flew by for many of the Soldiers, attributing the high tempo of the exercise to the excitement. The Steel Warriors will have a chance to show off their training May 16 during a HIMARS live-fire display at the conclusion of a family day competition.
"I am proud of all the Soldiers in the Steel Warrior battalion for their efforts this week as this was our first field exercise since the return from our deployment; the Soldiers took full advantage of the time allotted to increase section level proficiency," said Maddaloni. "We all are looking forward to the training path ahead and conducting live fire tables in June."
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