Citizen-soldiers keep to a rigid schedule at AT
Members of Eastern Oregon’s National Guard outfit conduct Annual Training south of Boise
By Pat Caldwell
Argus Observer
Friday, July 24, 2009 11:27 AM PDT
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| Pat Caldwell | Argus Observer
M1A1 tanks from the Ontario and Hermiston units of the Oregon National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry stand ready at a staging area dubbed ‘pepple beach’ on the Orchard Training Area south of Boise Thursday. |
GOWEN FIELD, Idaho — Staff Sgt. Brien Gibson, Hood River, isn’t wondering why he is working in the 100-degree-plus heat on the high desert south of Boise.
In fact, he said he is glad to be on the desert with his Oregon Army National Guard unit.
“It’s a blast,” Gibson said while standing next to an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank Thursday afternoon.
“Where else can you shoot a 120-millimeter gun and drive a $4 million to $7 million vehicle?” he asked.
Gibson, who lives in Hood River and trains part-time with the Hermiston Oregon Army National Guard unit, is just one of the 600 or more Guardsmen from Eastern Oregon’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment conducting Annual Training maneuvers at the Orchard Training Area.
The 3rd Battalion — a unit that deployed to Iraq in 2004 — consists of citizen-soldier units from Ontario, Baker City, Pendleton, Hermiston, Hood River, The Dalles and Central Oregon.
Usually the 3rd Battalion spends two weeks on the Orchard Training Area. This year, though, the regional Guard outfit will be on the high desert for three weeks.
At the same time, the 3rd Battalion is conducting its training in conjunction with other citizen-soldier outfits from Idaho and Montana.
The annual training cycle this year is effectively split up into two phases. The first portion centers on the M1A1 tanks. 3rd Battalion tank units — Hermiston and Ontario — spent the majority of time negotiating a series of gunnery ranges, or tables.
In the next phase, units will practice maneuver techniques, convoy escort practice and conduct other combat tests.
3rd Battalion commander Lt.Col. Kevin Sheehy, Union, said so far the annual training exercise is going well.
“This is the first time in a long time we are on schedule,” he said.
Staying on the schedule framed before annual training is the one critical piece to success, Sheehy said. Everything the 3rd Battalion does on the training range revolves around a specific and set program. One mishap and the entire training agenda could be compromised. That in turn costs time and money.
Guard units, by virtue of their part-time status, cannot depend on an unlimited time frame for gunnery range practice like similar units in the regular army. Instead, Guard units must cram a long list of training goals into a very short period of time.
Another factor 3rd Battalion tankers must content with is new requirements on the gunnery ranges.
The benchmarks required by the Army for tank units to qualify a tank crew have changed, forcing a set of new challenges on the tankers.
The switch, Sheehy said, was dictated by the make-up of the 3rd Battalion.
“We have multiple weapons platforms now. We have a mix of Bradley Fighting Vehicles, tanks and gun trucks, so they (the Army) had to rework all of the previous tables,” he said.
Back beside his tank, Gibson, 30, was not focused on the big picture. Instead, he seemed genuinely happy to be in the heat and dust.
“I’ve been on the tank and I’m loving it,” he said.
Pat Caldwell is the Editor of the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at PatC@argusobserver.com
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