COB BASRA, Iraq – The old adage “Send in the cavalry” once referred to Soldiers on horseback, riding to the aid of embattled comrades.
Today, that same call for backup can be made a lot quicker and with much more devastating effect through the Army’s joint operations.
Twelve Soldiers from 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 377th Field Artillery Regiment and 1st Battalion (Reconnaissance), 130th Aviation Regiment, Task Force Panther, teamed-up to conduct an air support live-fire exercise at a detonation range outside of Contingency Operating Base Basra.
Soldier tries to guide the air weapons team to their target verbally and without marking the target. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Maurice A. Galloway, 17th Fires Brigade, public affairs specialist) Spc. Maurice A. Galloway
The training provided leaders with the opportunity to gain valuable experience and increase their proficiency in calling for fire during close-combat scenarios.
After days of orchestrating the layout, boundaries and procedures of the exercise, the two taskforces conducted training sessions to familiarize the Soldiers with the different steps involved in the call-for-fire process.
“The hardest part of the training for me was being able to determine the distance of each of our projected targets from such a long distance away,” said 1st Lt. Mike S. Robinson, Bravo Co. 177th Armored Cavalry, infantry officer and native of Spokane, Wash. “You have to take into account that there are two perspectives: what we see from the ground and what the air support team sees.”
1st Lt. Mike S. Robinsion, 177th Armored Calvary, Bravo Company, infantry officer, coordinates the location of his next target with the air weapons team using the distance and direction he received from his azimuth. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Maurice A. Galloway, 17th Fires Brigade, public affairs specialist) Spc. Maurice A. Galloway
From their positions on the ground, Soldiers used their choice of techniques taught during the training to direct two AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters to hostile ground targets and have them deliver an airstrike.
Some Soldiers used the compass method, shooting an azimuth to gain the distance and direction of their target, while others tackled the difficult task of navigating the airstrike verbally without any target marking.
“This event gave our platoon leaders an opportunity to see what the Apache is capable of doing for us if we ever need more firepower,” said Lt. Col. James W. MacGregor, commander, 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 377th FAR. “They are routinely coordinating operations with the Air Weapons Team during their patrols, not only as a secondary source of firepower, but also to expand their field of view.”
A lot of different factors come in to play when trying to acquire a target, and it is because of this that communication is so important.
Two Apache Longbow 64-D's were flown by pilots with the 1st Battalion, 130th Avation Divison, Reconnaissance Battalion during the call for fire training. After recieving coordinates of the hositle target from the ground forces, the Air Weapons Team locked on to thier objective and fired. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Maurice A. Galloway, 17th Fires Brigade, public affairs specialist) Spc. Maurice A. Galloway
“The two teams have to constantly talk,” said MacGregor. “The platoon leader has to identify his target and help the pilot see what he is looking at. Both may be looking at the same thing, but from a much different perspective.”
When multiple targets are in close proximity of each other it makes target identification all the more difficult. One strategy is to have troops on the ground use small arms fire to mark their target.
“My objective was to identify the target for air support, using the 240 Bravo Light Machine Gun,” said Pfc. Ian D. Favro, gunner, 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 377th FAR, and native of Phoenix, Ariz. “I basically shot rounds in short, controlled increments just short of their intended target to knock dust into the air so that the AWT could properly identify their objective and destroy it.”
With all of the objectives destroyed and each of the platoon leaders getting the opportunity to become more familiar with calling for fire, the event was definitely a success, MacGregor said.
“This experience offered our platoon leaders a chance to talk to the pilots and gain insight on their perspective from both a fixed and rotary-wing standpoint,” he said.
“All in all this was a great professional development experience for these young leaders,” said MacGregor, “and, as artillerymen, any day we get to blow something up is a great day.”
