Fort Bliss Monitor

Imperial Soldiers train on new warrior tasks

Spc. Mark Miranda
11th ADA Bde. Public Affairs

Pfc. Raymond Richardson performs maintenance checks on his protective mask.

‘The reason we do this is that training needs to
prepare Soldiers for modern warfare; much of
our combat operations now take place
in an urban environment.’

Sgt. 1st Class David Dyer
3-6 ADA Battalion

Thursday Sergeant’s Time training took on some modifications to be a day-long event for Soldiers of Headquarters, Headquarters Battery, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade July 30.

At a site near Tobin Wells, HHB Soldiers were joined by Soldiers from 3-6 ADA Battalion, and practiced close-quarters marksmanship training with blank-fire rounds.

“The reason we do this is that training needs to prepare Soldiers for modern warfare; much of our combat operations now take place in an urban environment,” said Sgt. 1st Class David Dyer.

Spc. Sean Kovarovic gets a quick block of instruction on the workings of an M2 .50 caliber machine gun from Staff Sgt. Ezequiel
Vasquez.

Attention to detail is important, he said as movements are done with troops approximately two feet behind one another.

“You have to pay attention to what you’re doing. though we’re using blanks it’s important that you treat these weapons as though they were loaded with live rounds,” Dyer said.

Because of the tight spacing and movements, muzzle awareness was a point repeated throughout training.
“There are four aspects: weapon on ‘Safe,’ barrel pointed downward, mental awareness and trigger finger awareness.” Dyer said.

“In this type of a situation, you need to also learn to shoot with both eyes open. In close-quarters combat, that is vital for maintaining situational awareness,” said Sgt. Robert Darling.

Stations were set up for other training tasks to include maintenance of the protective mask and how to react to a chemical or biological attack/hazard. Another was set up for familiarization with the M2 .50 caliber machine gun.

“I never realized how light a weapon the M-16 is until I had to lug pieces of this around,” said Pfc. Raymond Richardson, a legal specialist with HHB, 11th ADA.

Soldiers from 3-6 ADA join HHB, 11th ADA for close-quarters combat instruction.

Richardson, who has been with the unit just over three months, is assigned to the crew-served weapon for his platoon. New warrior tasks call for soldiers to be able to maintain the M2 and to engage targets with the weapon.

Currently, a Basic Combat Training pilot program has added a range of battlefield skills to the instruction that participating recruits get during their nine-week introduction to the Army. Familiarity with the M2 and close-quarter marksmanship training are the first of these additional warrior tasks and battle drills to be incorporated into future Sergeant’s Time training.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	August 5, 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>	Imperial Soldiers train on new warrior tasks Spc. Mark Miranda 11th ADA Bde. Public Affairs Pfc. Raymond Richardson performs maintenance checks on his protective mask. ‘The reason we do this is that training needs to prepare Soldiers for modern warfare; much of our combat operations now take place in an urban environment.’ Sgt. 1st Class David Dyer 3-6 ADA Battalion Thursday Sergeant’s Time training took on some modifications to be a day-long event for Soldiers of Headquarters, Headquarters Battery, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade July 30. At a site near Tobin Wells, HHB Soldiers were joined by Soldiers from 3-6 ADA Battalion, and practiced close-quarters marksmanship training with blank-fire rounds. “The reason we do this is that training needs to prepare Soldiers for modern warfare; much of our combat operations now take place in an urban environment,” said Sgt. 1st Class David Dyer. Spc. Sean Kovarovic gets a quick block of instruction on the workings of an M2 .50 caliber machine gun from Staff Sgt. Ezequiel Vasquez. Attention to detail is important, he said as movements are done with troops approximately two feet behind one another. “You have to pay attention to what you’re doing. though we’re using blanks it’s important that you treat these weapons as though they were loaded with live rounds,” Dyer said. Because of the tight spacing and movements, muzzle awareness was a point repeated throughout training. “There are four aspects: weapon on ‘Safe,’ barrel pointed downward, mental awareness and trigger finger awareness.” Dyer said. “In this type of a situation, you need to also learn to shoot with both eyes open. In close-quarters combat, that is vital for maintaining situational awareness,” said Sgt. Robert Darling. Stations were set up for other training tasks to include maintenance of the protective mask and how to react to a chemical or biological attack/hazard. Another was set up for familiarization with the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. “I never realized how light a weapon the M-16 is until I had to lug pieces of this around,” said Pfc. Raymond Richardson, a legal specialist with HHB, 11th ADA. Soldiers from 3-6 ADA join HHB, 11th ADA for close-quarters combat instruction. Richardson, who has been with the unit just over three months, is assigned to the crew-served weapon for his platoon. New warrior tasks call for soldiers to be able to maintain the M2 and to engage targets with the weapon. Currently, a Basic Combat Training pilot program has added a range of battlefield skills to the instruction that participating recruits get during their nine-week introduction to the Army. Familiarity with the M2 and close-quarter marksmanship training are the first of these additional warrior tasks and battle drills to be incorporated into future Sergeant’s Time training.