Army and Air Guard work together to qualify Black Hawk door gunners

By: Matthew J. Wilson
Unit Public Affairs Representative





FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. - Missouri's Citizen-Soldiers received an assist from their Air Guard comrades when they qualified as Black Hawk gunners at their annual training exercise.

Black Hawk crew chiefs and pilots from the Missouri National Guard's Company C, 1st Battalion, 106th Assault Helicopter Battalion were able to train and qualify recently on the Air National Guard's Cannon Range for the first time.

As part of its two-week annual training, Soldiers from the Fort Leonard Wood unit spent two days at Cannon Range firing M-240H machine guns from the rotary winged aircraft's door.

"We have to get qualified once a year and this is just part of the qualification that we are trying to get up to snuff on," said Staff Sgt. Terry Hull, a crew chief who lives in Plato. "We've just been back from the desert a little over a year, so we're starting all over again."

The unit deployed to southeast Iraq from August 2008 to June 2009 and hasn't qualified in the aero gunnery since their premobilization training, which took place at Fort Sill, Okla., in June and July of 2008.

Hull said he liked the opportunity to utilize Cannon Range as opposed to training elsewhere.

"I love it," he said. "I probably couldn't speak more highly of the quality of a range than Cannon Range. I like this range much better than the Fort Sill range."

Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Brooke, unit readiness noncommissioned officer in charge, said training at home also eliminates waste.

"With us being stationed here and doing it here, we don't lose any training days," said Brooke, who lives in Lebanon. "Every day is a training day instead of a transient day to another post. They've got everything we need out there. They definitely have a lot more targets here."

Cannon Range is a 4,800 acre Class-A range run by the Missouri Air National Guard's Detachment 1, 131st Fighter Wing based in St. Louis that is utilized mostly by fixed-wing aircraft. The range, located in the southwest portion of post, includes more than 200 ground targets, several of which can be used to score a gunner's precision with the help of camera towers and an advanced computer system.

"Since this was the first time that Black Hawks had fired on Cannon Range, significant effort was made to ensure that nothing would interfere with the training once it was underway," said Lt. Col. John Christian, part-time range control officer for Cannon Range. "Upon learning of the Army's requirements, Cannon Range personnel went to work to ensure that quality training would be delivered."

The gunnery focused on four targets that consisted of a tank and a grounded helicopter, two types of targets already common at the range, as well as simulated infantry squads of rubber dummies that had to be specially constructed just for the aero gunnery by Senior Master Sgt. Randy Flores, range superintendent, and his crew.

Christian said Maj. Mike Sadler, Cannon Range commander, also made appropriate range safety calculations and range staff developed a method for scoring hits on the targets.

"The exercise was an excellent example of Army and Air National Guard units working together to accomplish mutually advantageous tasks," Christian said. "The smoothness of the operation and the outstanding results can be attributed to superb efforts from both organizations. It further demonstrated the seamless integration of full- and part-time Guardsman in getting the job done."

Hull called the variations in targets a good start.

"They could expand the targets and have a lot more for us than what they did, but for a first go, it was excellent," Hull said. "I can't praise Cannon Range enough - it was a pleasure working with them."

The Soldiers trained the first day and qualified on the second as crew chiefs fired one 200-round belt at all four targets from each of three different scenarios. In the first scenario, crew chiefs shot with the Black Hawk landed on the ground. They then fired in flight during daylight and followed that with night fire using night vision goggles.

"It's a great refresher," Hull said. "If you haven't done it for 14 months, you kind of lose a little bit of the skills. We started off shooting low and couldn't get our line of sight on the targets. With each progression it started getting better and better, and that's why we do it."

A major thunderstorm hit the area and forced the cancelation of night aero gunnery on the second day. Cannon Range personnel immediately scheduled a short-notice, add-on range time on the next evening.

"This allowed the Army Guardsmen to complete their training during the two-week annual training period instead of being forced to reschedule at a later date," Christian said.

To be a good door gunner, Hull said crew chiefs need to get in plenty of practice, learn to acquire targets quickly and familiarize themselves with the weapon.

Hull said under night conditions, shooting well is even more challenging because of a poorer quality of vision.

"The best visual acuity of the night vision goggles is 20/25," Hull said. "You can probably expect it to be 20/40 on average and with that, you're not seeing as well. Plus you are looking through a small circle and your field of view is limited to 40 degrees. So you really have to do a lot more scanning and rely on teamwork and crew coordination."

The three scenarios were part of a total of 10 that must be finished for complete qualification. The unit has completed most of the others previously during their two-week annual training.

"Once we get this qualification, then every six months we have to do a couple of tables to keep current," Brooke said. "Right now we have to do all of the tables because we've been in reset for the last year."

Brooke said 20 crew chiefs and two platoon sergeants took their turns firing during the aero gunnery, which he and Hull deemed a success.

"Everybody was on target that I saw," Brooke said.

"I can only speak for my aircraft and I was pleased with them," Hull said. "I think after we got the altitude situation taken care of, everyone was really hitting well."

Sgt. Bradley Horne, a crew chief who lives in Waynesville, said firing from the flying helicopter gives Guardsmen a much more realistic feel.

"It's more lifelike," he said. "You actually get to see how everything reacts differently instead of just sitting at a range."

Horne said one of the keys to successful door gunnery is good communication with the pilots.

"You have to keep it together and communicate clearly to make sure these are the targets exactly who the crew chiefs are supposed to engage," Horne said.

Being able to shoot well also helps, Horne added.

"You've got two kinds of shooters - the natural shooter sand someone who works at it really hard," he said. "The natural shooter is a lot easier to work with. I'm pretty natural - every range I've went to I've shot expert."

The job of the Black Hawk pilots during aero gunnery is to maintain safety and provide good communication to help the crew chiefs engage the targets, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Brad Smith, a Company C pilot.

"I just try to maintain a level platform so that the crew chief has a chance to fire without hitting his traverse limits with his weapon," he said.

From the pilot's perspective, Smith called the exercise good training.

"I think it went well," said Smith, who lives in Springfield. "We were able to work out some details to make things go a little smoother and we should be able to progress from there. This will be a good training opportunity for us at Fort Leonard Wood."




For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please call 1-800-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.



Posted: 7/28/2010 4:17:32 PM