SUWON AIR BASE, South Korea - Soldiers from Alpha Battery, 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery recently became certified on their semi-annual gunnery evaluation April 21 here.
"I am extremely proud of my Soldiers for what they have achieved this afternoon," said Capt. Eric Blewett, commander of Alpha Battery, 6-52nd Air Defense Artillery Battalion.
The gunnery table evaluation tests a Patriot firing battery's ability to road march all of its equipment, to include the radar station and numerous launchers, set up in a new location and then assume the posture to fight air battles.
The evaluation is known within the U.S. Army air defense artillery branch as the benchmark to measure a firing battery's ability to execute its primary mission - defending the airspace against enemy aerial threats.
The evaluation proves to be a grueling process, both mentally and physically, for the Soldiers involved. In fact, most units tend to fail during their first attempt.
This afternoon, however, the Alpha Battery Assassins has proven to every air defense unit on the peninsula that with sufficient preparation, planning and motivation, passing the gunnery table evaluation during the first attempt can indeed be achieved.
"In a way, I am not surprised at all of the excellent results we received during the evaluation," Blewett admitted. "The Assassins have been training very hard for this evaluation and you can easily tell from the confidence demonstrated by the Soldiers as they execute their crew drill."
Blewett, who only recently took over the command of Alpha Battery, has already overseen the unit making tremendous strides in its bidding for the title of best battery in the battalion.
"My Soldiers are the true heroes that made this unit great," said Blewett, who was born in Oklahoma. "They have instilled within themselves the pride and drive to exceed all expectation."
The unit's excellence is evident during many aspects of the evaluation.
For example, during the crew drill for road marching and setting up the electrical power plant, Alpha Battery Soldiers achieved a record-breaking time of under 10 minutes, the best in the battalion.
Master Sgt. Timothy Kinmon, one of the chief evaluators during the certification, remarked, "We [evaluators] were extremely pleased with what we witnessed during the evaluation."
"The leaders put in a lot of efforts into planning and preparing for this evaluation, and it definitely showed," Kinmon continued. "I guess the take away lesson from this evaluation is that thorough planning and preparation is the key for an air defense unit to pass the gunnery certification."
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