KNG Bushmaster Course

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – In a socially distanced ceremony full of senior military leaders from the Kuwait National Guard and 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Soldiers of the KNG were awarded course completion certificates near Kuwait City, Kuwait on December 7, 2020.

Kuwait National Guard Soldiers completed a week-long familiarization course on the M242 Bushmaster weapon system instructed by 2ABCT Bradley Master Gunner, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Doyle.

During the course, the Kuwaiti Soldiers received hands-on training on the weapon system and learned U.S. Army doctrinal corrective actions for common malfunctions.

“Our main goal and object was to identify the issues that the Kuwait National Guard were having with their weapon system,” said Doyle. “Then, work together to come up with ways to fix the issues and to share information they might not know to make them more effective on their weapon system.”

The class was made up of enlisted and warrant officers from the KNG with varying degrees of experience on the Bushmaster.

The class was broken in to three separate sections to allocate additional time for the hands-on practicum and to mitigate COVID-19 exposure risks.

“Understanding common malfunctions with both our weapons systems and working alongside our allied partners is essential to ensuring mission success,” said Doyle.

2ABCT is currently deployed to southwest Asia in support of Operation Spartan Shield. The OSS mission is to support regional partners and sustain stability in the region through building relationships by way of joint training engagements that strengthen interoperability.

“We have a long standing friendship dating back several decades with our Kuwaiti hosts,” said Col. Michael P. Wagner, 2ABCT Commander. “This was an opportunity for our experts and the Kuwaiti National Guard experts to share lessons on the M242 Bushmaster weapon system to increase lethality across our two formations.”