Wisconsin Army National Guard unit hones skills with rocket artillery system
Soldiers with the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery Regiment recently fired several fire missions here while training on the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, honing their skills as elements of the battalion prepare for an upcoming deployment.
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery fire a rocket from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System as part of training at Fort McCoy, Wisc. Elements of the battalion are preparing for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.
"We shoot, move and communicate - that's what we train on," said Army Maj. Paul Kapinski, the battalion's operations officer.
Fire missions originate at the brigade or battalion level and are sent to the battery and platoon level. The launcher vehicles are pulled out of hiding places for the fire mission and then it's off to a new hiding place until the next fire mission comes down.
To meet annual certification requirements, and deployment requirements, HIMARS units must successfully complete tasks down to the individual launcher and ammunition section.
Helping the artillery crews in the field was the job of the 108th Forward Support Company, whose Soldiers worked behind the scenes to provide fuel, food and ammunition to all HIMARS crews.
"We're pretty much on call for everything," said Army Sgt. Ashley Mullis, a heavy vehicle driver for the 108th FSC. "If it wasn't for the forward support, they wouldn't be able to complete their mission. That's a big sense of accomplishment for us."
And working together like that is one of the things that training is all about, said Army 1st Sgt. Arthur Pronschinske, senior enlisted leader of the 108th FSC.
"It just hones their skills ... coming together as a larger picture," Pronschinske said. "They are a deploying unit and we want to support them so they can accomplish their tasks for deployment."
The last time the battalion deployed, in 2006, they performed a convoy escort mission. This time around the deploying elements are scheduled to be part of a traditional field artillery mission.
Soldiers in the deploying elements said they are looking forward to deploying and using the skills they have devoted the time to perfect.
Source: U.S. National Guard
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