Gunnery

Gunnery

The apex of the training year for mechanized units is gunnery. I understand the active duty tankers take most of a month to complete this task, reserve units take a two week annual training period from drawing tanks to turning in the last cleaned weapon. I thought that was a little stressful, then we did wheeled gunnery here. Is having a wrong opinion wrong? I hope not.

SFC Big daddy is the HMFIC (Head Mother Frakker In Charge) by virtue of his training as a Master Gunner. My self and 12 others would be the VCEs (Vehicle Crew Evaluators) going down with crews, grading them and then explaining the grade, then jumping in with the next crew and doing it all again. We found out we were going to the evaluator class the night before the class started. Of 13 evaluators, 11 failed the first test, and thus it began.
We would have to go and retest while range, that needed 12 VCEs ran with 2. Big Daddy was unhappy with us, to put it mildly. The crews are stressed because this is their big test, and the rest of the company feels the stress and reacts to it.
To put it mildly the first couple of hours on the range were…. Stressful (I said that already didn’t I?). In true military fashion the master gunner vents on his evaluators, the VCEs vent on the crews, who then vent back at each other. This lasts for about 2 hours. Then we get the magic. The immensity of the task overcomes the individuals. Like some giant group think the tension begins to drop. Soldiers help their buddies, and the range begins to click a machine gun. Truck heads down range, the next one is pulled up to the ready line. A truck returns, and we shoot the next one down.
I wander past the iconic image of gunnery, not tracers arcing down range, or the boom of cannon fire. Three soldiers, vehicle commander, gunner and driver passed out asleep in a neat line. I step back to take a picture and notice the all over crews eat, bullshit or pass out together. Maybe it was the crews going down range that managed to calm us down. You never know.
The VCEs will shoot and grade, no rest for the wicked. The engagements begin to blur, only the notes on the score card to tell you what happened this time and what was on the last crew. Unlike tanks where you sit in the tower and listen to the fire commands and time the crew we have to ride down behind the gunner.
Ever tried to stand up in the back of a vehicle, a stop watch in one hand, pen in the other, holding down a score sheet while tracking targets, and grading fire commands? Not easy. Then there are our generally young drivers. They drive with the aggression of the young and the skill of the same. CPL Calm got thrown into the back hard enough to leave bruises , twice. I got a full can of .50 ammo thrown at me like a medicine ball. I collapse back into the clam shell, toss the ammo off to the side, and ride the sudden stop back up to my place behind the gunner, hit the stop watch and recover the grade sheet. I get bruises on both sides and a sore back for the rest of the event. Bull riders eat your heart out.
I as the day goes on, I am walking to my next truck and hear the evaluator briefing the crew.
“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. If you throw the VCE out of the vehicle or make him swallow his dip it is an automatic zero.”
SGT Adams deals with it another way. I am leaning against the shack as he ‘counsels his driver. “If you don’t slow down I am putting a steaming cup of coffee on the dash in front of you.” It takes his driver PFC SPQR a second before he realizes the repercussions of a jack rabbit start and steaming hot coffee. “Rodger Sergeant” He says.
The day moves on, crews go to sleep after their day run, waiting for darkness. The range crew keeps rocking. A weapons guard is kept employed almost full time keeping the two pots of coffee brewing. The temperature drops and still vehicles head down range. With the back hatch open the heaters are fighting a hopless battle against the cold.
We bundle up and keep going. Midnight comes and goes without us noticing, as crews keep going down range. At night the tracers tell the whole story. As gunners get better they all go the same place instead of spraying all over the place. Targets get hit, engagements get shorter.
At some point I begin to notice less hang dog expressions from returning crews. More After Action Reviews include “Great engagement, I can’t really say anything more.”
SFC Caine keeps the crews rolling SFC Big Daddy fixes guns and helps crews and evaluators. The temperature drops into the low forties and a mist comes over the range. We are in constant motion, but the speed has dropped as we dip deeper into our reserves. If you see a guy dragging ass too much you take his next crew and tell him to get an hour or two of sleep.
Help your buddy, cover down, make things work. The boxes of empty brass and links grows behind the ammo point. Crates stacked upon crates of the debris of gunnery.
At 4am the range shuts down. We will start up again in the morning, rather later in the morning. Most of the crews go on the first bus, then the range crew. Two hours of sleep and we start up again. Remember to eat and drink water. I dip into my emergency energy drink supply and share it around as needed.
My crew, SSG Lifeguard and PFC Mighty Mouse take on the lions share of setting up our vehicle to shoot. Down we go, and then I am back to grading. No cause to complain, eleven of us are in the same boat. Sleep is for the weak. You can sleep when you are dead.
Events truly blur, I don’t even remember my own qualification, but apparently I did well. Over 30 crews in less than three days. Not bad, not bad at all.
Gunnery is over and our trip over the pond comes near. With a solid eight hours of sleep behind me, I look back and feel pride and confidence. One of my last AARs sticks in my mind. I look into the faces of a crew that was shaky at the beginning and say, “You guys really cowboy’d up. I look forward to rolling down the road with you watching my back.” That really says it all.