Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel

By Staff Sgt. Opal VaughnDecember 9, 2016

Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
1 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army artillerymen assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, prepare to fire a M777 Howitzer as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, Italy, Dec. 2, 2016. Summ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
2 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army artillerymen assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, fire a M777 Howitzer as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, Italy, Dec. 2, 2016. Summer Tempest ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
3 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army artillerymen assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, prepare an M777 Howitzer to move to a new area as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, Italy, Dec... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
4 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Impact area after U.S. Army artillerymen assigned to 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, fire an M777 Howitzer as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, Italy, Dec. 2, 2016. Summer ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
5 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Spc. Stephen Sevigny, a gunner assigned to 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, stands by for marching orders as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, Italy, Dec. 2, 2016.... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
6 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army artillerymen assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, pack up an M777 Howitzer as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, Italy, Dec. 2, 2016. Summer Temp... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
7 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army artillerymen assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, pack up an M777 Howitzer as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, Italy, Dec. 2, 2016. Summer Temp... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
8 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Spc. Stephen Sevigny, a gunner assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, rotates the barrel of an M777 Howitzer as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sky Soldiers' gun line makes it rain steel
9 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army artillerymen assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, pack up an M777 Howitzer as part of exercise Summer Tempest 16 at Capo Teulada in Sardinia, Italy, Dec. 2, 2016. Summer Temp... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CAPO TEULADA, Italy - "All right you know what to do gentlemen. Make it rain steel," said Staff Sgt. Lyle Bennett, a Section Chief assigned to 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. One-by-one, 155mm artillery rounds eject from concealed fighting positions.

From a distance, the barrel of the 9,300-pound M777 Lightweight Howitzer can only be seen by the remnants of smoke, forming the gun line.

Sky Soldiers assigned to 4-319 AFAR, brought their M777 and M119A3 Howitzers to Sardinia, Italy, to participate in exercise Summer Tempest 16. Participating militaries also included artillery units from France, Italy, and Slovenia.

The purpose of Summer Tempest is to integrate the Arty Fires Control System link between the Italians and French Fire Direction Centers with 4-319 AFAR digitally, said 1st Lt. Richard Rainey, 2nd Platoon Leader assigned to Battery C, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment.

"This system enables better communications so that gun teams on ground are more accurate with their howitzers and effectively increase payload output," said Rainey. "[It] gives us the opportunity to exercise our ability to provide indirect fires to our NATO Allies and partners."

The Arty Fires Control System is designed for field artillery fire control in accordance with the tasks of modern war management. The system is interoperable with the command information system of joint forces, found in the U.S. Army Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Corps Artillery, Division Artillery, and Field Artillery Brigade Operations field manual.

But even with new technology in modern day warfare make no mistake; life on the gun line is no cakewalk. Gun teams must be efficient in conducting their fire missions so as to inflict the most damage during a short period of time before their location is identified and return fire.

The mission of field artillery is to provide firepower during combat operations, enabling joint and maneuver commanders to complete their missions. Field Artillery paratroopers are trained in tactics, techniques and procedures for the employment of fire support systems, found in U.S. Army Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for the Field Artillery field manual.

"[We] are the heart of the battery. [We're] the part of the battery that actually controls the howitzers," said Spc. Jacob Fisher, assistant gunner assigned to Battery C, known as Chaos. "At times life on the gun line can be tough, it's hard work, and then there's downtime which can be stale. But when it actually comes down to receiving a fire mission, it's pretty exciting."

Each gun team understands the lethality of their mission, approaching both dry and live fire training with dedication and grit. But firing the round and seeing the end result is worth it, said Fisher.

"Getting to pull the lanyard is the best thing about my job. I am the person who actually gets to fire the round," said Fisher.

Having previously trained with militaries from France, Germany, Italy and Poland, and ongoing [rotation in the Baltics], the brigade regularly trains with their NATO Allies and partners. The success of the battery relies on each individual because even the simplest mistake can take a gun out of the fight or even cost a life, said Sgt. Terry Riley, an ammunition team chief assigned to 4-319 AFAR.

"The gun line is very intense and we love showing our strength as the King of Battle. This job definitely develops camaraderie and when we're on the gun line, the success of the battery relies on each individual on a team," said Riley. "We've trained with our NATO Allies and partners before and every time we do, it's another opportunity to learn, and of course blow something up."

As the night skies draw near, the team continues to move in a rhythmic dance. Everyone on the team echoes the verbal commands as each step in loading and reloading the gun is vital to the success of their mission.

The radio crackles from the truck. "End of mission," the artillery chief calls to his team.

They echo in return, "End of mission." The volley of fires is complete. The team awaits marching orders to pack up their gun and do it all over again upon receipt of a fires mission.

Summer Tempest is a multinational exercise designed to increase planning and communications systems, partnership building and develop common procedures for combined arms live fire, held Nov. 28 through Dec. 6, 2016.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, is the U.S. Army Contingency Response Force in Europe, capable of projecting forces to conduct the full range of military operations across the United States European, Central and Africa Commands areas of responsibility.