FORT STEWART, Ga. - Soldiers from Company D, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducted heavy weapons training, Aug. 19-24, on Fort Stewart training sites.
The soldiers from Company D, the heavy weapons company of the Can Do Battalion, started their training on the Mark 19 grenade launcher. After the instruction portion, all of the soldiers in the company were given the opportunity to fire the fully automatic 40 mm grenade launcher. The training concluded with all of the company's Mark 19 gunners successfully qualified on the weapon system.
The soldiers continued their week of training by familiarizing and qualifying on the AT4 weapon system. The AT4, a shoulder fired anti-armor weapon, is utilized by the heavy weapons company to destroy enemy tanks on the battlefield. After the training and familiarization, 39 soldiers from the company qualified on the AT4.
"I was very surprised how well the soldiers shot on the AT4," said 2nd Lt. Jared Gray, an infantry officer and platoon leader with Company D, and a Savannah native. "You could tell that as a heavy weapons company they took a certain amount of pride in how well they understood these weapons."
The final day of training culminated with a Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wireless-guided, or TOW, missile live-fire at a separate training site. The TOW missile is an anti-armor missile that has been used by the U.S. military since the 1970s. The chance to fire one was a rare opportunity that many of the soldiers appreciated.
"I haven't had the opportunity to live-fire a TOW missile since 2003," said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Osborne, an infantry platoon sergeant in Company D from Lumberton, North Carolina. "The soldiers were definitely excited to take advantage of this opportunity."
The soldiers were successful firing the TOW missile; the majority of the missiles were a direct hit on their target.
Pfc. Ketrick Hurford, an infantryman from Kalispell, Montana, scored the best shot of the day.
"I wasn't too nervous," he said, "I just remembered my training and tried to stay calm."
The week of training gave the heavy weapons company a chance to get back to their roots.
"In combat, we are relied upon to be tactically and technically proficient on these weapon systems," said Capt. Andrew Osborn, an infantry officer from Birmingham, Michigan, and the Company D commander. "Since these weapons are our bread and butter, it is important that we come out here and train on them as often as possible."
The Can Do soldiers with Company D are scheduled to continue to train on their gunnery capabilities which will culminate this fall with squad and platoon level live-fires where the skills learned at the ranges will be put to the test.
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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