Well, another week done (albeit a tad longer than most weeks) and just that much closer to the end of ABOLC. I have mixed feelings about finishing this course. On the one hand, everything that happens here is generally infuriating. The day to day incompetence and bungling has sent my blood pressure numbers in a direction that couldn’t be called healthy. On the other hand, I love my mates, I love tanks, I (with a few notable exceptions) love my cadre, and honestly, Columbus, GA could be a heck of a lot worse… But I do recognize that all things do come to an end, and it sharpens the mind when you remember that waiting on the other side are 16-40 sons and husbands whose lives will depend on how well I learn my job now. A sobering thought.
Well, this week was a busy one. Our platoon got a lot accomplished, namely tank gunnery, a Blue Force Tracker class, a mental resiliency class, and, most importantly, we adopted a platoon mascot, a one eyed stuffed cat we’ve fondly named “Attack Cat” who accompanies us to our training events. We also got some good classes on calling for artillery fire and close air support, which featured an awesome video of Kiowa (a small army helicopter) pilots who’d run out of ammunition firing M4s and pistols out of their cockpit doors at targets on the ground. That’s dedication. The air support brief also featured lots of videos of Air Force and Navy jets hitting targets for Army troops. It always strikes me how cool calm and collected pilots sound even as they’re doing a highly dangerous and, I imagine, very difficult job. It’s usually something like this:
Platoon Leader: “THEY’RE ON TOP OF THE BUILDING!! WE NEED A BOMB THROUGH THAT ROOF!!!”
Pilot: “ahhhhhhhh, roger, we see ‘em………”
PL: “WE’VE MARKED OUR POSITION!! COME ON IN!!!”
Pilot: “yeah, we’re coming in hot……… uhhhhh, bombs on the way…….. got ‘em”
PL: “FANTASTIC!!!! THEY’RE DONE, THANKS FOR THE HELP!!”
Pilot: “annnnd roger, batman 37 out”
Almost makes you want to be a pilot… well, it certainly makes you appreciate them.
Well, the marquis event for the week was definitely the tank gunnery that took place over the weekend last week. We spent three days out in the field, the first doing a dry fire run through with only machine guns, the second a live fire with main gun and machine guns, and the last day cleaning up the range and cleaning the tanks. The dry fire was a Godsend because, even after all the hours in the simulator, it only took about 5 seconds to realize that the real thing in a real tank was so much different. The complexity of the task was certainly daunting, but it was just so darn cool to be controlling a 70 ton monster with three very lethal weapons systems that most people (including me) completely lost their heads during the dry fire. The next day was absolutely amazing. It was pretty awe inspiring to feel the boom of the 120mm main gun going off in your very bones, but nothing really prepares you to be inside the tank controlling that gun and sending the big bullets downrange. One engagement in particular was a lot of fun. From a defensive position (with just the gunner and commander’s sights sticking up over a berm) we engaged two personnel carriers in about 10 seconds. It went a little something like this (bear in mind the tank commander and gunner were students and the loader was the NCO cadre):
(Tank is REDCON 1 [ready condition 1] and targets come up, there is already a HEAT [High explosive, anti-tank] round in the main gun)
Gunner: (looking through his sight and scanning) PC IDENTIFIED!
Tank Commander: (gives a fire command to the gunner and loader with the type of round to be loaded and the target) Gunner, HEAT, PC!
Gunner: (Uses the laser range finder to get a range) Identified! Range 1750 meters!
Tank Commander: Driver move up! (brings the tank so it’s gun is over the berm)
Loader: UP! (The gun is loaded, armed, and the loader is out of the way of the breech, which recoils about 12 inches, crushing everything in its path)
Tank Commander: Fire and adjust!!
Gunner: On the way! (He squeezes the trigger and BOOM!! the round flies downrange)
Tank Commander: (gives a sensing of where the round hit in relation to the target. There is so much dust kicked up by the shot, this is always impossible) Lost!
Tank Commander: (in the M1A2 SEP, the TC also has an independent sight. While the gunner is identifying, lasing, and firing, the TC is finding the second target. When he does, he ‘designates’ the gunner which swings the gun tube to where the TC is looking. Two eyes are better than one!) Designate right, PC!
Gunner: Identified, range 2200 meters!
Loader: UP!
Tank Commander: Fire!
Gunner: On the way!! BOOOOM
Tank Commander: Lost! Target, target cease fire. Driver move back. (The driver reverses the tank back into the defilade, hull down position)
This whole dance takes about 10-15 seconds and the tank is hardly exposed at all. We also did multiple engagements with just about every failure imaginable, including the gunner’s controls going down, leaving the TC to engage, identify, and shoot from his position, and a failure of the laser range finder, forcing either the gunner or TC to ‘choke’ the target, using a set of hash marks on an auxiliary sight to estimate the distance. It was a very difficult and long day, but it was a blast and everyone felt accomplished at the end. I even got to watch a herd of deer prance across the range through the thermal sights in the pitch black of night, proving that deer might be the stupidest animals on the planet. It’s a miracle they weren’t turned into hunks of venison by some trigger happy 2LT. It sure was tempting and beats the heck out of laying in a deer blind for 12 hours with a bolt action rifle.
Anyway, so gunnery was cool! Of course, just when we’re all on a high we revert back to Private mode for the recovery. I spent my Tuesday sweeping dirt off of every cement surface on the range with a push broom. For four hours. Luckily, I was with the lads so we all had a great time and a good laugh, but it is a bit terrible that in these days of budget crisis and defense spending cuts that 33 Lieutenants making Lieutenant pay swept dirt off of pavement for an entire day. On the plus side, we did come up with a new name for sweeping that has caught on in a big way around Hawk Troop. If any of you hear the act of sweeping referred to as ‘push dirting’ any time in the near future, you’re welcome. We ended the day at the 'wash racks' which are essentially car washes for tanks. It consists of six stationary fire hoses that you blast the tank with getting all the dirt and grime off. Of course, when you give 22-30 year old guys giant fire hoses there is inevitably going to be a water cannon fight. But the tanks did get cleaned eventually...
Also, Coach K gave us a motivating speech proving that this man is following me through my career. It's too bad I can't stand Duke basketball...
Also, pictures to follow.
