ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - Sgt. 1st Class Jessie Lopez earned the unique distinction of being the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command's first noncommissioned officer to complete the Bradley Master Gunner Course April 13 at Fort Benning, Ga.
The Bradley Master Gunner Course, first taught in 1983, is a rigorous 14-week course that teaches subjects such as turret operations, weapons system training, preliminary gunnery, and target engagement. NCOs who complete the course assist unit leaders in the planning and implementation of gunnery training and serve as the commander's subject matter expert on all issues related to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
Course completion benefits both the soldier and the command, but course preparation and completion didn't come easy for the 15-year Army veteran.
"This was the most challenging school in my 15 years in the military," said Lopez. "It required a lot of studying on my part that would take me into the early hours of the next day."
Lopez prepared for the course by attending the Warrior Training Center's Pre-Master Gunner Course, an intensive three-week course focusing on maintenance training procedures, gunnery training on advanced gunnery methodology, and gunnery training management, which assesses a unit's gunnery proficiency level.
"The hardest part of the course was the Short Range Training Plan. We had to develop a plan for a battalion to execute a Bradley Gunnery," he said. A project so intense his team worked hours on end with little sleep to complete it.
All that studying and planning will not only pay off for Lopez, but his command as well.
"Sgt. 1st Class Lopez's completion of the course provides us with a unique subject matter expert within our ranks," said Col. Jeffrey Holt, commander of the Aberdeen Test Center, ATEC. "He will advise test officers on test planning and also assist in development of our training plans for our combat vehicle testers."
As the lead Department of Defense test center for land combat systems, it is no longer sufficient for ATEC to simply execute world class technical testing, said Holt. As ATEC moves to an integrated testing model, it also has to have the most current understanding possible of individual and crew training programs, along with a strong understanding of how the Bradley and M1 Abrams are employed in combat.
According to Holt, Lopez will help fill those gaps and provide an even greater senior NCO perspective to the command's technical skills.
"Sgt. 1st Class Lopez is an extraordinary soldier. With only two NCOs on our team, we routinely ask [him] and Sgt. 1st Class Corey Brandon to tackle a broad range of projects,
from testing to infrastructure to personnel; they do it all," said Holt.
"They also keep our workforce in touch with their ultimate customer -- the American Soldier."
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