A Utah Army National Guard artillery unit – D Battery, 1st Battalion, 145th Field Artillery Regiment – had an opportunity to get out from behind their cannons and prove themselves on other battlefield tasks during a complex training exercise Feb. 28 near Camp Buehring, Kuwait.
“We’re usually field artillerymen, so we’re used to being the guys supporting the guys doing this,” said SPC Matthew Miyasaki, a cannon crew member with D Battery, 1-145th. “Actually getting in their boots and doing what they do gives us a better picture on both ends of the battlefield.”
After eight weeks of training in the field, D Battery executed Operation Diamond Strike, an exercise that tested combat skills in urban terrain. The objective of the operation was to infiltrate a simulated local populace and locate an informant who would subsequently give the whereabouts of a high-value target.
After securing a landing zone for two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, the artillerymen were picked up and inserted into a location close to the village they needed to infiltrate. Immediately, the squads got to work on their objective.
Three squad leaders directed their teams to carry out their role of assault, support or security.
As they moved quickly toward the village, the battery prepared to use every skill they learned during their previous training. This included the hearts and minds method for dealing with an insurgency, which calls for a population-centric approach that focuses on cutting off an insurgent’s lifeblood and supply lines by winning over the support of the local population.
“The ‘hearts and minds’ aspect helps us out because it limits the amount of hostiles who we would engage with and the amount of negative reception that we would have on the United States Army moving into an operation,” said SPC Miyasaki. “Giving a good American presence within our area of operation would give us a smoother and more precise way of pinpointing where we could target the enemy.”
Keeping this training in mind, the artillerymen proceeded with caution upon entering the village. After making contact, however, the squads received enemy fire. Instinctively, their training kicked in during the ensuing action.
The Soldiers dispersed smoke and mock-chemical gas, deployed suppressive fire, donned protective masks and finally detained the informant. The high-value targets were then quickly captured and the operation was completed.
CPT Kyle Rawlinson, executive officer of 1st Battalion, 145th Field Artillery Regiment, watched his troops maneuver through the urban terrain.
“This is everything that we’d be doing in our combat role,” CPT Rawlinson said. “The main thing that we are trying to get is sustainment training on their [crew-served machine guns and other] weapons.”
Not only did the training boost combat skills, but Rawlinson believes it will help with joint operations.
“The training value of an event like this is [in the use of] combined arms when we are working with other units,” he said. “What I hope 3rd Platoon learned from this training event is [urban-terrain] tactics and small-unit tactics – moving as a unit, working at both squad and platoon levels.”
BY SPC Joshua Morris, UTAH NATIONAL GUARD
