{"id":21826,"date":"2023-08-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=21826"},"modified":"2023-08-06T04:53:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T04:53:50","slug":"oregon-army-national-guard-tankers-train-with-live-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=21826","title":{"rendered":"Oregon Army National Guard Tankers Train with Live Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n A 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams Tank crew fires their 120 mm main gun as part of the battalion’s table VI qualification at Orchard Combat Training Center near Boise, Idaho, July 23, 2023. (Army National Guard photo by Maj. W, Chris Clyne, Oregon National Guard public affairs)
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ORCHARD COMBAT TRAINING CENTER, Idaho – The Oregon Army National Guard\u2019s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, sharpened its combat skills during annual training in late July, focusing on qualifying tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicle crews through intensive live-fire gunnery.<\/p>\n

\u201dThe battalion came out to Orchard Combat Training Center to qualify primarily on our tanks and Bradleys and also with our mortars,\u201d said Maj. Christopher Miller, battalion commander. \u201cBeing proficient on our weapons and vehicles is essential to mission success.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Oregon\u2019s only armored combined arms battalion, the 3-116th Cavalry trains to expertly employ the crushing firepower of M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams Tanks and the rapid maneuverability of M2A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles.<\/p>\n

During the day and night gunnery exercises, Abrams crews engaged targets out to 2,000 meters with the tank\u2019s 120 mm main gun during the pivotal Table VI qualification. Bradley crews also tested their skills with their 25 mm cannons and coaxial machine guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cTable VI allows crews to perform as a cohesive team in simulated combat,\u201d said Staff Sgt. Joaquin Murillo III, a seasoned tank platoon sergeant. \u201cOperating the Abrams satisfies my passion for being a tanker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maintaining vehicles for live-fire operations was vital.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is keeping these combat vehicles rolling forward to complete the mission,\u201d said Sgt. Sarah Bennett, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic and certified nursing assistant in civilian life. \u201cThe fleet of vehicles is like nonverbal patients, requiring individual care and expertise to run smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n

These Citizen-Soldiers train one weekend per month, with annual training being the pinnacle of their year. Balancing service with civilian life and family requires commitment but brings camaraderie and personal growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI serve to give back to the organization that\u2019s given me so much,\u201d said Bennett.<\/p>\n

Miller said the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment offered its Soldiers multiple options for fulfilling annual training requirements, including the Orchard Combat Training Center event.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf 442 assigned Soldiers, more than 220 were present for this specific exercise,\u201d he said. \u201cThe others had opportunities to participate in different training events earlier in the year, including deployments to Bangladesh and Morocco.\u201c<\/p>\n

The validation of 3-116th\u2019s core competencies during this training is timely, as a company from the battalion will soon deploy to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Louisiana, to support the Oregon Army National Guard\u2019s 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis annual training was very challenging, OCTC was very dry, and we had to pause training for high winds and multiple fires from high volumes of fire from our armored vehicles,\u201d said Battalion Master Gunner Master Sgt. Joe Carson. \u201cUltimately, we overcame these obstacles and met our goal of qualifying essential crews while shooting over 100, 120 mm main gun rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re like an extended family after so many deployments together,\u201d said Miller. In remote eastern Oregon, Soldiers\u2019 friendships often extend beyond drills into hunting, camping and riding ATVs together.\u201d<\/p>\n

This dynamic was displayed during annual training, with mentoring between seasoned NCOs and new privates, crews sharing firing table solutions, and maintainers passing down technical knowledge.<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

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National Guard Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams Tank crew fires their 120 mm main gun as part of the battalion’s table VI qualification at Orchard Combat Training Center near Boise, Idaho, July 23, 2023. (Army National Guard photo by Maj. W, Chris Clyne, Oregon National Guard public affairs) (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21828,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21826"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21829,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826\/revisions\/21829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}