CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. " The 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade is currently conducting its gunnery validation requirement necessary for deployment with the assistance of 1-306th Regiment, and members of the 2-306th Regiment, both components of the 188th Infantry ‘Battle Ready’ Brigade.
“The gunnery is the decisive piece of the validation of the 149th MEB,” said Col. Timothy E. Newsome, 205th Infantry Brigade commander, lead training brigade for the mobilization of the 149th MEB. “The Soldiers providing the training are professionals who know what they are doing to get the 149th through the gunnery and facilitate the process.”
The 149th MEB, Kentucky Army National Guard, will complete its final training and validation requirements at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center prior to deploying to conduct security force, base defense operations and convoy security operations in Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn to support the withdrawal of troops and equipment from Iraq.
Lt. Col. Timothy J. Gauthier, 1-306th Regiment commander, said that his Soldiers’ task at the M240B and 50-caliber gunnery ranges was to take the 149th MEB Soldiers from whatever proficiency they were currently at and train them to Army standard.
“You get guys at all different levels of training,” said Gauthier. “Part of the challenge is to figure out where they are and adjust training to meet their needs. Every day is a new adventure for the guys out on the range, bringing order out of chaos.”
He explained that the gunnery consists of five portions of training. Those portions consist of gunnery skills training, gunnery tables one and two done without ammunition with both day and night requirements, and gunnery tables five and six, which are completed with live ammunition and also have day and night requirements.
By the end of training he expects to qualify 480 three-man gun crews.
Sgt. 1st Class Terry Brickhouse, noncommissioned officer in charge for the night crew for the GST, and GT I and II, explained the training for his stations.
“GST includes a variety of classes including vehicle identification, ammo identification, fire crew drills, roll-over drills and the proper use of seat restraints,” said Brickhouse. “We also teach target acquisition, scanning, and breakdown, reassembly and functions check of the weapon systems, the M240B or the 50-cal.”
During GT I and II the Soldiers drive through a course with pop-up targets on dry runs, or without ammunition, for practice and familiarization of the weapon system and requirements for qualification. A vehicle crew evaluator rides in each vehicle to assess the gun crew’s performance and provide them with feedback. This is done both during the day and night to assist them with their final qualification.
During GT V and VI the gun crews are split and go to ranges based on their assigned weapon system.
“The first day during table five builds their confidence,” said Capt. Alexander L. Herren, day officer in charge of the 50-caliber range. “The second day they do table six. That’s when they really develop their skills and start looking like veterans.”
Herren explained that GT V is a practice table and has six day engagements, or target sets, and four night engagements. GT VI is the qualification table during which the gun crew must hit seven out of ten targets, with two being from night engagements, for a total minimum score of 700.
Scores are based on the time to kill target and fire commands, according to Sgt. 1st Class Gordon Baker, NCOIC of the day M240B range.
“This is our money-maker, our culminating event,” said Capt. Brian Gallavan, commander of A Troop 2-183d Cavalry Regiment, one of the units attached to the 149th. “It’s really geared at getting our teams ready to execute our mission.”
During the deployment Gallavan’s troop will provide convoy security in Southern Iraq. He said the Soldiers providing the gunnery are absolute enablers and really wear a mentor-advise-teach-coach hat that will help his guys succeed in their mission and set the conditions for their success.
The 188th Infantry Brigade, along with the other training support brigades in First Army Division East, provides and facilitates theater-focused training for deploying National Guard and Reserve units and assists with redeployment and demobilizing following deployment. Based out of Fort Stewart, the 188th "Battle Ready" Brigade has been training Reserve Component units for deployments continuously since 2003.
Social Sharing