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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – In the world of artillery,
there are a lot of pieces that work together to ensure that each
round finds its target.
One piece of that puzzle, the forward
observer, is responsible for, amongst other things, calling in
artillery fire and radioing back when the rounds have landed.
U.S. Army and Marine forward observers with 3-2 Stryker Brigade
Combat Team, “Arrowhead,” and the 6th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison
Company practiced these call-for-fire skills at Yakima Training
Center, Wash., Oct. 10.
The Marines, who are reservists based
out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., had several young members
within their group who have not yet been to the official forward
observer schoolhouse yet, making this their first time viewing live
artillery fire.
“The guys that haven't been to the
schoolhouse, they're going to be miles ahead of the people who are
going to be going to the schoolhouse and have never even seen an
artillery range,” said Sgt. Chad Cocks, a Seattle native and Marine
forward observer with 6th ANGLICO. “That's going to help them out a
lot.”
The Arrowhead Soldiers and Marines spent time together
on a hill observing the artillery fire from a relatively close
distance from where the rounds were landing.
“Coming out here
and working with the Army is great because we get to see the
different targeting systems that they use and just the generally
different equipment they use from what the Marine Corps uses,” Cocks
said.
For the Soldiers present, it was a chance to work with
those outside their branch, something they don't regularly get to
do.
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U.S. Army Sgt. James Benham, a forward observer with 3-2 Stryker
Brigade Combat Team, and Sgt. Chad Cocks, a forward observer with
6th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, observe artillery rounds
during training at Yakima Training Center, Wash., Oct. 10, 2014. The
training was an opportunity for the Marines and Soldiers to practice
their observer skills and experience what its like to work with
others outside their branch.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Justin A. Naylor)
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“We talked to them for, like, three hours last night,”
said Sgt. James Benham, a San Diego native and forward
observer with 3-2 SBCT. “You never really get to work with
the different branches of service and it really highlights
that we're all pretty much the same.”
The Soldiers
spent a lot of time showing off their specially equipped
Stryker combat vehicles, which have observation and
targeting equipment that makes the job of a forward observer
easier.
“They've seen Strykers, but they've never
been in them, so it's a new experience for them,” Benham
said. “They were really excited.”
For the 3-2 SBCT
Soldiers, training with their Marine counterparts had a few
benefits, not the least being that their brigade has
recently been regionally aligned with efforts in the
Pacific, which will see them working more with Marines in
the future.
“I've been in almost five years in the
Army now and I've never trained with the Marine Corps,”
Benham said. “It's good to get hands-on because a lot of
times, I think people stand back because of that natural
rivalry...there's always the ‘who's better?' This way, it
gives you a little better chance to get to know the person,
to get to know the group before you're out there, and you
realize that we're all the same men fighting the same fight
just in different uniforms.”
By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Justin A. Naylor
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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