For tank crews, focus on basics is key to success

CAMP KONOTOP, Poland - For the Soldiers of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, practicing the basics is the key to success.

Soldiers with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st ABCT, 3rd Infantry Division trained for gunnery April 21, 2015, at Camp Konotop, Poland.

"Everything has been going pretty well," said Spc. Nicholas Burnett, an M1 Abrams main battle tank crew member with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st ABCT, 3rd Infantry Division. "We're getting a lot better with the [.50-caliber machine gun] and the [M240B machine gun]."

Normally stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, elements of the 3rd Infantry Division are currently deployed to Poland and several other Eastern European countries in support Operation Atlantic Resolve, an ongoing multinational partnership focused on joint training and security cooperation between NATO allies.

"By doing this training we become more familiar with our equipment," said Burnett. "That way, if a malfunction happens, we know how to correct it as quickly as possible."

Consisting of individual and crew tasks, gunnery skills training is the basis of all armored gunnery, said Sgt. Nathan Gerard, an M1 Abrams armored crew member also with Company D.

Gunnery skills include working with weapons, loading and unloading the main gun and crew fire evacuation drills.

"It establishes a basis that all armored crew members are supposed to have," said Gerard. "Even a private straight out of basic training has been taught this. Every crew member, seasoned or not, has to go through this to make sure they are proficient in these specific skills."

Although going through gunnery training is nothing new for the 3rd Infantry Division, the chance to accomplish it in Poland presents new opportunities such as cross-training with other armies.

"So far we've done small cross-training with smaller groups of the Polish army," said 1st Lt. Christopher Retsch, a platoon leader in Company D.

"Being able to cross-train with the Polish is very helpful for us so that we can understand what kind of capabilities they have with their weapon platforms and how they normally operate," said Retsch. "It also enables them to see what kind of weapons we have and how we operate too."