FORT BENNING, Ga., (March 2 2016) -- Students of the Armor Basic Officer Leader Course practiced boresighting - a critical Armor task - alongside Noncommissioned Officer Academy students Feb. 25 on Abrams tanks.
Boresighting is a method to adjust the optical sight on the main gun of the tank by aligning the cross hairs of the scope to the spot where the barrel is pointing at a particular distance, said Capt. Steven Klecha, assistant operations officer for 2nd Battalion, 16th Cavalry Regiment. For lieutenants, the training instills a familiarity and gives them an opportunity to see NCOs doing the job they'll be doing when they get to their units. This allows for an understanding for lieutenants to knowledgably help their crewmen.
"They're going to be relying on their NCOs in their crews to be executing this across all their tank platforms in their platoons," Klecha said.
Despite going to a Cavalry unit as opposed to an Armor unit, Klecha said he still remembers the practices of boresighting and that the task is crucial regardless.
During the training, a lieutenant would calibrate the optics from inside the turret and another student would communicate and direct the adjustments according to where they're aiming at with hand signals.
"By having precise fires, we can employ our systems lethally," Klecha said.
Staff Sgt. Jose Lopez, instructor, had students interpret his hand-signal directions as he worked with a student inside the turret. He also ensured students knew the first thing a crewman must check before beginning to boresight a tank: make sure the tank is on level ground.
The task will be completed every time before the gun is fired, Klecha said. It will become daily practice for a crew.
The partnership effort of ABOLC with NCOA provides collaboration between lieutenants and NCOs during the training, Klecha said. It also creates a connection for the lieutenants between units they are going to and units NCOs have been.
"We're getting some good knowledge from (Soldiers) with a lot of years of experience on the platforms," said 2nd Lt. Tyler Miranda. "We're building relationships right now with possible future NCOs of ours."
Miranda said that stronger relationships between officers and NCOs ultimately lead to more lethal units.
"The biggest thing we can give them now is what to expect when they get to their units," said Sgt. Nathan Stock, NCOA student. "They can come and ask us questions without having to be worried about being judged."
More than advice on boresighting, Stock said the NCOs could instill knowledge about different posts the Armor students might go to - things to do, places to live - and anything about the tank platform that they need to know.
"That's the great thing ... (the NCOs) have been all over America and everywhere," Stock said.
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