Fort Bliss Monitor

Table VIII certification
2-1 batteries certify with nearly all new crews

STAFF SGT. DAVE ENDERS
35th ADA Bde. Public Affairs

Sgt. John Keyes connects fiber optic cables to the engagement control station.

With nearly all crews comprising Soldiers who had never before certified together on their equipment, Soldiers from A and C Batteries, 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery, exceeded the standards during their Battery Table VIII certifications, July 17.

Soldiers in A and C batteries are preparing for reassignment here at Fort Bliss when the rest of 2-1 ADA deploys to Korea this fall. In order to join another battalion ready for whatever mission they may be asked to perform, both batteries are directed to certify Battery Table VIII prior to being departed from 2-1 ADA.

In accordance with the April 2004 Gunnery Program, a Battery Table VIII involves conducting reconnaissance, selection and occupation of position team [RSOP]; passing a thorough maintenance scrub of the radar set, antenna mast group [AMG], engagement control station [ECS], electric power plant [EPP] and launching stations [LS]; moving the unit to a new field site; and, being operational within 45 minutes of arrival, which includes the ECS crew validly assuming the directed alert state with five operational launchers. The ECS crew then engages in a simulated air battle. Additionally, a Battery Table VIII is comprised of a successful guided missile transporter [GMT] missile reload crew drill and the assumption and air battle of a second ECS crew.

“Due to personnel moves in support of 2-1’s movement to Korea our overall ratio was about 55 percent new personnel on the crews,” said A Btry. Commander Capt. Suzanne Kendell. “Everybody put forth their best efforts to contribute to the overall success of the battery.” Kendell said her EPP crew performed extremely well. “And having three launcher crews run a crew drill with zero deficiencies was outstanding, especially considering the limited training time,” she concluded.

“About 50 percent of the crews were new Soldiers that had to be added to the teams to meet the standards for Table VIII,” said C Btry. Commander Capt. Samuel Rosario. “We had some soldiers that we had to integrate into the battery in a short time, and we had to assign new crew members in order to perform the Table VIII. Our crews performed above my expectations,” said Rosario. “I think they performed about as well as crews that had been together for six to nine months.”

“Our EPP crew beat the battalion record … with a time of 9 minutes, 52 seconds,” said A Btry. Fire Control Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sgt. James “Shaft” Stead-man. “Before this the battalion record was 10 minutes.” [The standard is 25 minutes.]

“We had three weeks to train, but these crews kept changing out so that the crews that certified only had about three days to train before we rolled out [for the exercise],” said Shaft. “Spc. Savali Kemp and Spc. Olando Custard, our EPP crew, were the record breakers. And Pfc. Jose Andino, one of our antenna mast group crew, did very well – he only had eight hours to train on the AMG before the Table VIII, and he had never touched one before.”

“We learned our drill the night before.” Andino said he read through the Army Training Evaluation Program steps for the crew drill and then walked through each step with the rest of the crew. “We did it several times between 4 p.m. and midnight,” said Andino. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without support from Staff Sgt. Steadman, the rest of fire control and a good connection between Staff Sgt. Blue, Sgt. Nooner and me. [Blue and Nooner were the other Soldiers on the AMG crew.]”

While A Btry.’s fire control platoon was setting new records, their launcher platoon emplaced with three of five crews performing flawlessly.

“There is a high degree of attention to detail when deploying and maintaining Patriot launchers during a Table VIII certification,” said A Btry. Launcher Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sgt. John Fulcher. “All procedures have to be followed in the correct order to standard or we don’t certify.

“Two of the three crews that had zero deficiencies also finished with extremely fast set-up times,” said Fulcher. “Sgt. Michael Castillo and Spc. Angel Velasquez only trained together for a week and finished in 15 minutes, 58 seconds. Spc. Steven Milks and Spc. Agustin Gonzales finished in 16 minutes, 36 seconds. [The standard is 25 minutes to set up a Patriot launcher.]”

“We both had experience with the crew drill already,” said Velasquez of himself and Castillo. “We ran through it once, just to get the feel of if because we hadn’t been on a crew together before. And then it was just a matter of getting with Milks to tell him we were going to beat his time.”

Milks said he and Gonzales set up their launcher in 17 minutes, 24 seconds during 2-1’s last field training exercise. “For that Table VIII, we had the best time and the best score for all the crews,” said Milks. “For the battery, we were the ones to beat this time out. This isn’t the last time we’ll go out there,” he said. “We’re going to take the battery record back.”

As A Btrt, Soldiers set a new battalion record and competed to be best in the battery, C Battery Soldiers also exceeded many standards with mostly new crews as well.

“I’ve only had three weeks to train with this crew, and that was broken by block leave,” said C Battery Fire Control Platoon Leader, 1st Lt. CheLinda Reed, who was herself one of the new additions to the platoon. “We had to do individual training on different schedules. I trained all throughout block leave.”

Training wasn’t Reed’s only concern in preparing for the Table VIII. “We worked all night last night making sure the equipment was ready,” she said. “I stayed up getting the equipment ready with the battery maintenance officer.”

“Usually fire control gets all the glory because we’re in the spotlight,” said C Btry. Fire Control Platoon Sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Tammy Coleman. “But we couldn’t have done this without the maintenance control team. They worked all night getting the equipment ready, and then five of those maintainers rolled out at 5:30 this morning with the RSOP, who got a first-time go and scored 100 percent on their evaluation.”

C Btry.’s launcher platoon Soldiers also performed beyondsuccess with many new crews emplacing equipment. “We got a first-time go on all aspects of the Table VIII,” said C Btry. Laun-cher Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sgt. David T. Frey. “Some of the crews have been here for six months, and some of the crews we just put together for this Table VIII.”

Frey credited two of his soldiers for their exceptional performance. “Spc. Ryan Perrine has stepped up and become a junior leader in the platoon, and he makes things happen consistently – any time we have a tight mission that has to get done, he makes it happen; and, Pfc. Rory Olson always maintains his equipment above the standard, keeps a good attitude regardless of the situation and always respects his superiors.

Olson certified with Spc. Daniel Boado. “This was the first time Boado and I worked together on the same team,” said Olson. “We both know our drills, but a lot of [their success] had to do with the fact that we practiced together to learn how each other works, so we were able to make it happen.”

The successful accomplishments of the initial portion of Table VIII certification was only the most recent step A and C batteries have taken toward ensuring every Soldier is ready to accomplish their mission when they are reassigned to another battalion.

The two batteries continue to place focus on completing the certification with the remaining LS and GMT crews and second ECS crews. 2-1 ADA continues to prepare for the success of the entire battalion in follow-on missions by holding all units to the same certification standards whether they deploy to Korea or join another unit here.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	July 22, 2004

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	Table VIII certification 2-1 batteries certify with nearly all new crews STAFF SGT. DAVE ENDERS 35th ADA Bde. Public Affairs Sgt. John Keyes connects fiber optic cables to the engagement control station. With nearly all crews comprising Soldiers who had never before certified together on their equipment, Soldiers from A and C Batteries, 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery, exceeded the standards during their Battery Table VIII certifications, July 17. Soldiers in A and C batteries are preparing for reassignment here at Fort Bliss when the rest of 2-1 ADA deploys to Korea this fall. In order to join another battalion ready for whatever mission they may be asked to perform, both batteries are directed to certify Battery Table VIII prior to being departed from 2-1 ADA. In accordance with the April 2004 Gunnery Program, a Battery Table VIII involves conducting reconnaissance, selection and occupation of position team [RSOP]; passing a thorough maintenance scrub of the radar set, antenna mast group [AMG], engagement control station [ECS], electric power plant [EPP] and launching stations [LS]; moving the unit to a new field site; and, being operational within 45 minutes of arrival, which includes the ECS crew validly assuming the directed alert state with five operational launchers. The ECS crew then engages in a simulated air battle. Additionally, a Battery Table VIII is comprised of a successful guided missile transporter [GMT] missile reload crew drill and the assumption and air battle of a second ECS crew. “Due to personnel moves in support of 2-1’s movement to Korea our overall ratio was about 55 percent new personnel on the crews,” said A Btry. Commander Capt. Suzanne Kendell. “Everybody put forth their best efforts to contribute to the overall success of the battery.” Kendell said her EPP crew performed extremely well. “And having three launcher crews run a crew drill with zero deficiencies was outstanding, especially considering the limited training time,” she concluded. “About 50 percent of the crews were new Soldiers that had to be added to the teams to meet the standards for Table VIII,” said C Btry. Commander Capt. Samuel Rosario. “We had some soldiers that we had to integrate into the battery in a short time, and we had to assign new crew members in order to perform the Table VIII. Our crews performed above my expectations,” said Rosario. “I think they performed about as well as crews that had been together for six to nine months.” “Our EPP crew beat the battalion record … with a time of 9 minutes, 52 seconds,” said A Btry. Fire Control Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sgt. James “Shaft” Stead-man. “Before this the battalion record was 10 minutes.” [The standard is 25 minutes.] “We had three weeks to train, but these crews kept changing out so that the crews that certified only had about three days to train before we rolled out [for the exercise],” said Shaft. “Spc. Savali Kemp and Spc. Olando Custard, our EPP crew, were the record breakers. And Pfc. Jose Andino, one of our antenna mast group crew, did very well – he only had eight hours to train on the AMG before the Table VIII, and he had never touched one before.” “We learned our drill the night before.” Andino said he read through the Army Training Evaluation Program steps for the crew drill and then walked through each step with the rest of the crew. “We did it several times between 4 p.m. and midnight,” said Andino. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without support from Staff Sgt. Steadman, the rest of fire control and a good connection between Staff Sgt. Blue, Sgt. Nooner and me. [Blue and Nooner were the other Soldiers on the AMG crew.]” While A Btry.’s fire control platoon was setting new records, their launcher platoon emplaced with three of five crews performing flawlessly. “There is a high degree of attention to detail when deploying and maintaining Patriot launchers during a Table VIII certification,” said A Btry. Launcher Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sgt. John Fulcher. “All procedures have to be followed in the correct order to standard or we don’t certify. “Two of the three crews that had zero deficiencies also finished with extremely fast set-up times,” said Fulcher. “Sgt. Michael Castillo and Spc. Angel Velasquez only trained together for a week and finished in 15 minutes, 58 seconds. Spc. Steven Milks and Spc. Agustin Gonzales finished in 16 minutes, 36 seconds. [The standard is 25 minutes to set up a Patriot launcher.]” “We both had experience with the crew drill already,” said Velasquez of himself and Castillo. “We ran through it once, just to get the feel of if because we hadn’t been on a crew together before. And then it was just a matter of getting with Milks to tell him we were going to beat his time.” Milks said he and Gonzales set up their launcher in 17 minutes, 24 seconds during 2-1’s last field training exercise. “For that Table VIII, we had the best time and the best score for all the crews,” said Milks. “For the battery, we were the ones to beat this time out. This isn’t the last time we’ll go out there,” he said. “We’re going to take the battery record back.” As A Btrt, Soldiers set a new battalion record and competed to be best in the battery, C Battery Soldiers also exceeded many standards with mostly new crews as well. “I’ve only had three weeks to train with this crew, and that was broken by block leave,” said C Battery Fire Control Platoon Leader, 1st Lt. CheLinda Reed, who was herself one of the new additions to the platoon. “We had to do individual training on different schedules. I trained all throughout block leave.” Training wasn’t Reed’s only concern in preparing for the Table VIII. “We worked all night last night making sure the equipment was ready,” she said. “I stayed up getting the equipment ready with the battery maintenance officer.” “Usually fire control gets all the glory because we’re in the spotlight,” said C Btry. Fire Control Platoon Sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Tammy Coleman. “But we couldn’t have done this without the maintenance control team. They worked all night getting the equipment ready, and then five of those maintainers rolled out at 5:30 this morning with the RSOP, who got a first-time go and scored 100 percent on their evaluation.” C Btry.’s launcher platoon Soldiers also performed beyondsuccess with many new crews emplacing equipment. “We got a first-time go on all aspects of the Table VIII,” said C Btry. Laun-cher Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sgt. David T. Frey. “Some of the crews have been here for six months, and some of the crews we just put together for this Table VIII.” Frey credited two of his soldiers for their exceptional performance. “Spc. Ryan Perrine has stepped up and become a junior leader in the platoon, and he makes things happen consistently – any time we have a tight mission that has to get done, he makes it happen; and, Pfc. Rory Olson always maintains his equipment above the standard, keeps a good attitude regardless of the situation and always respects his superiors. Olson certified with Spc. Daniel Boado. “This was the first time Boado and I worked together on the same team,” said Olson. “We both know our drills, but a lot of [their success] had to do with the fact that we practiced together to learn how each other works, so we were able to make it happen.” The successful accomplishments of the initial portion of Table VIII certification was only the most recent step A and C batteries have taken toward ensuring every Soldier is ready to accomplish their mission when they are reassigned to another battalion. The two batteries continue to place focus on completing the certification with the remaining LS and GMT crews and second ECS crews. 2-1 ADA continues to prepare for the success of the entire battalion in follow-on missions by holding all units to the same certification standards whether they deploy to Korea or join another unit here.