KUWAIT NAVAL BASE - Select Soldiers within the 718th Transportation Battalion participated in a live-fire exercise on May 5, 2011. However, this was not your normal range exercise. Members from the 778th Transportation Company, 377th TC and 217th TC joined the crew of Landing Craft Utility 2018 vessel, also known as Five Forks, out in the Persian Gulf to fire select weapons designated for the waterborne vessel’s defense.
The exercise was part of a Third Army initiative known as Granite Shield. The Granite Shield program was put into effect in early-December 2010, with the purpose of improving individual, small unit and collective readiness across the Third Army Command.
“The Soldiers learned to not only fire at moving targets,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Biggins of Lowell, Ohio, “but they were moving up and down with the rocking of the boat at the same time, as opposed to stationary targets or targets moving in a straight line they would encounter on a normal range.” Biggins is the future operations officer assigned to the 718th Transportation Battalion.
The Five Forks crew, assigned to the 709th Transportation Company (Heavy Boat) based in Tacoma, Wash., not only provided a lift out to the open sea, they also participated in training with the other Soldiers.
“Today, our overall mission,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Franky Caraska, vessel master for the Five Forks, “was to come out and validate the crew with a live-fire exercise with crew-served and individual weapons on board.”
“Out in the desert at a normal range,” said Caraska, “your weapon is not moving. Here, the boat is pitching and rolling, so the gunner has to take that into consideration as well as the target. Caraska continued, “What the gunner is shooting at is moving and the platform the gunner is shooting from is moving, so there are a lot of variables there.”
When asked about “Granite Shield” and the training on board the Five Forks, Biggins replied, “(it) brings back basic Soldier skills, learning to trust your weapon, how to fight with our personal weapon systems and ensure we have confidence in them.”
There were seven different units participating in the day’s exercise with Soldiers coming from different backgrounds and military jobs. These Soldiers have never had the opportunity to work together before. Caraska commented “a Joe is a Joe, no matter where you go. We all wear the U.S. Army uniform, we’re all in the same unit and we’re all in the Army. Everyone integrated well.” Caraska continued, “The Army watercraft is such a unique field that when we have to work with other Soldiers, they are excited and interested. It’s not just another range they have to go to. They are learning things they have never learned before. Doing things they have never done before.”
“I believe this was a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity for a lot of these Soldiers,” said Biggins. “They’ll probably never in their career see a range quite like this. I believe it gives them that extra confidence in themselves and their ability to use the weapons.”
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