ZAGAN, Poland -- Soldiers of 3rd Combined Arms Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, stationed out of Fort Stewart, Ga. here in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, conducted an M4 rifle range at Zagan Training Area, Poland, July 12.
The event kicked off a week-long small arms density, training soldiers on various weapons systems to include the M4 rifle, M9 pistol, M249 machine gun, and M240 machine gun. The goal is to enhance weapons proficiency as well as build soldiers' confidence using them as they move toward gunnery, explained 1st Sgt. Mark Martin, senior enlisted advisor, 3-69 AR.
"It's a stepping stone from day one through day five this week," Martin said. "Everyone will get a chance to get out here to zero, gain confidence at different ranges and bands of targets that they will shoot during the night fire."
Starting with the basics, soldiers stepped up to the firing line to zero in their sights and familiarize themselves on the range.
"It's the crawl, walk, run methodology," said Staff Sgt. Abraham Boughner, company master gunner, 3-69 AR. "They start with individual single soldier tasks and then next week they will do GST (gunnery skills test), individual crew tasks, and then move into crew collective tasks and qualification."
Once rifles were adjusted, soldiers moved onto a known distance range with targets placed at 200, 400, and 600 meters.
While the furthest target rests at 300 meters during a standard timed-fire qualification, the known distance range provided soldiers the unique opportunity to test the long range capability of their rifles.
"There aren't many times that we get to shoot at 600 meters, the maximum effective range of our weapons," said Spc. Christopher Reed, infantryman, 3-69 AR. "It's definitely fun to test the limits of it."
Soldiers will return to the range later this evening to hone their night fire skills.
"That is something that we don't get a lot of in the States because the simulators are available and we are not allocated the ammunition," Martin said. "Over here we don't have the simulators so that is something that many of the soldiers have not done in a long time."
Rifle qualification serves as the first major component of training that 3-69 AR will complete during their rotation, reaffirming the strong partnership between the U.S. and NATO allies throughout the region.
"The weekly syncs that the commander, the command groups, and the interpreters have with the Polish command group has been real instrumental in allowing us to come out here and do the things we do," Martin said. "They are very open to the various types of training we want to do."
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