Shoot, Move and Communicate!
[Return to Delta-2-1 Story]
Their first run had not gone as well as they had hoped. The BC had just met up with his crew the night before. He had been working feverishly on his college finals. Half-way through that run the 25mm "chaingun" had jammed. So now it was back to the end of a long line of other crews waiting their turn to qualify at the gunnery range at Yakima Training Center. The three-man crew was silent as they headed for the AAR (After-Action Review) tent, to hear what they already knew. They had made mistakes, and now they had precious little time to correct them. Their Evaluator confirmed this, but offered some critical tips and coaching on how to improve. They were encouraged, but the odds were not in their favor.
On their second run the targets popped up and the Gunner put them right back down with with textbook precision. That was more like it! They quickly suppressed a troop target with their co-ax machine gun. The BC barked commands to his Gunner in the form of a few words that spoke volumes - "Gunner, Sabot, PC!" - the Gunner slued over to a PC (personnel carrier), selected Armor-Piercing, Discarding Sabot (APDS) ammunition for his Bushmaster chaingun and dispatched it with similar precision. The tone was set for the rest of the engagements. The Driver listened intently to the fire commands over the intercom and knew instinctively when to power the massive machine forward and give the Gunner a clear shot. He counted off the seconds that they were exposed and warned the BC if he had been "up" too long. They were a well-oiled machine. They had become part of their Brad. Suddenly, they were done. It was over and they knew they had qualified.
"That was some good shooting… that was some really good shooting!" exclaimed CPL Robert Gallaher, Delta-2-1’s rookie BC, no longer a rookie. "By the end of the run, there was no doubt. It was all over. We performed well beyond my expectations. My Gunners determination got us past some challenging obstacles. My Driver did his job. They made my job really easy." Delta-2-1 had just achieved a "Q-2" qualification score. In fact they had nearly scored a "Q-1", the highest qualification score, a significant achievement even for a seasoned crew.
Of course, there is more than just gunnery to practice at Annual Training. "Delta" Company’s training also included a running battle with the OPFOR (Opposing Forces), this year played by the California Army National Guard. Once again, favorable conditions, high morale and solid training proved to be force-multipliers. Considering that the Washington Guardsmen train year-round at YTC, there may have been something of a home-field advantage.
[Back to Top]
 |
 |
|
|