WEST POINT, N.Y. - Cadets who thought they had their branch choices made up and their futures planned out are now taking time to reconsider their choices after being introduced to the field artillery branch by soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment, or the Patriot Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, during a field artillery event, July 7-13, at West Point, N.Y.
"Many said that field artillery was now among their top choices," said Staff Sgt. Michael Rivers, a section chief with Battery B and native of Killeen, Texas.
The field artillery training event included three stations made up of forward observer training, live howitzer firing, and recon, selection, occupation of position, known as RSOP.
"Each day we train one company or approximately 150 cadets," said Capt. Stephen Ficchi, the Battery B commander. "We start the day off with a demonstration of an emergency hip-shoot mission that is narrated and includes music to motivate the cadets." Ficchi added the cadets really seem to like the demonstrations, because the cadets would applaud afterwards.
The training was enabled by more than 130 trainers and mentors from Battery B who are attached to Task Force China, also from the Vanguard Brigade.
At the RSOP station, cadets received a three hour block of training, which included a terrain model practical exercise, howitzer physical training, emplacement and occupation training, and a culminating competition of cadet teams racing to see who could set up a howitzer the fastest.
"Cadets really thrive on competition, and it was evident through our howitzer PT competition and occupation race that cadets were very motivated to perform their best during the RSOP training," said 1st Lt. Zach Peterson, a platoon leader with Battery B. "Not only were cadets given the opportunity to compete during the RSOP training, but they were also presented with the planning and prior work required before you can fire the howitzer."
Staff Sgt. Keith Harris, a section chief and native of Lexington, North Carolina, taught the cadets aiming and emplacement procedures.
According to Harris, highlights of the experience included the howitzer physical training, where cadets competed at aiming pole relays, ammo crate carries, howitzer presses and base plate squats.
"All of these exercises really exposed cadets to the physicality of the gun line and what is required in order to occupy a howitzer," said Harris. "The emplacement, occupation procedure competition was great because it allowed cadets to understand the sense of urgency we have when we occupy, as well as, the chance to shoot five blank howitzer rounds if their cadet team won the race."
"The cadets did outstanding," added Rivers, who was located at the live howitzer firing station.
At Rivers' station, cadets prepared, loaded, and fired their own rounds after learning the different roles of the ammo team chief, the ammo loader, assistant gunner, and the radio telephone operator.
"Many cadets came to the training with preconceived notions about what branch they hoped to join, but after coming to the FA training, many cadets said they plan to include FA in their top branch choices," Rivers noted.
"I think the cadets were very perceptive to the training, by the end of the day they were able to walk away with a good understanding of the call for fire process from start to finish," said Ficchi. "My officers and senior [non-commissioned officers] incorporated blocks of time throughout the day to teach and demonstrate the different lieutenant jobs that an FA officer can hold, so the cadets hopefully walked away with more than just the experience of firing the cannon or observing rounds.
"As for my soldiers they feed off the energy of the cadets," he continued. "My junior soldiers are able to teach all the positions below and above them at the section level because of this training and our proficiency is the highest it has been since I took command."
Related Links:
The 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division DVIDS page.
The official 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart Facebook page.
The official 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Facebook page.
The official 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart website.
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