Spc. Mark Miranda

(Left), Spc. Leroy Welch and Spc. Joseph Castersen, both with B Battery, 2-43 ADA,
conduct a system naintenance check on a Patriot Advanced Capability II launcher.

2-43 conducts STX

Spc. Mark Miranda
32nd AAMDC Public Affairs

Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, are at Tobin Wells conducting Situational Training Exercises. These are mission-related, limited exercises designed to train one collective task or a group of related tasks and drills through practice. STXs teach the standard, preferred method for carrying out the task.

They are more flexible than drills and usually include drills, leader tasks and Soldier tasks. Soldiers of 2-43 trained on a variety of tasks from land navigation to triage and casualty-handling scenarios.

True to form, the battery commanders trained STXs and other similar exercises while platoons executed combat and crew drills. The STX’s final objective is to prepare units for larger-scale exercises.

“We’ve been here since Saturday, getting ready for our Table Eight certification. In the meantime, we’re doing maintenance. I hook up test sets to a launcher to find out everything wrong with the one I’m working on,” said Spc. Leroy Welch, a Patriot system operator/maintainer.

For some Soldiers, like C Battery’s Pvt. Carlos Nieves, it is their first time – out of advanced individual training – running the drills such as the March Order and Emplacement with a unit.

“We’d rather be out here than in the motor pool taking care of last-minute tasks. This is the more hands-on portion of what we do, and it’s here where we really get a chance to see the fruits of our labor,” said Staff Sgt. Joseph Wray, a Patriot system maintainer with C Btry., 2-43 ADA.