Armory Training for Tank Gunnery

and Major Douglas L. Dilday A common concern for National Guard Armor units is how to train and maintain gunnery proficiency, given only 39 days a year, plus the requirement to execute other "good ideas'' that are designed to improve readiness. The 1st Battalion, 632d Armor of the 32d Separate Infantry Brigade (M), Wisconsin National Guard. has developed away to skin the cat. All line armories in the hattalion are located three to five hours travel time from Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, where the majority of the unit's equipment is stored. Currently. each unit has one tank per platoon maintained at home station armories. Due to the limited availability of various training resources (to include time) the crews were suffering from insufficient hands-on-training to maintain proficiency with fire controls and crew duties. As a result of this prohlem, A Company decided to enhance tank crew training by painting a large snake-hoard, indoors, on an interior wall. Using the M55 Laser, common manipulation exercises were conducted. hut the unit also added three-dimensional scale targets to the snake-board. This allowed for further crew interaction and engagement techniques. The scale targets, when glued or bracket-mounted to the wall. are warmer than the wall surface. As a result, the crews can use the Tank Thermal Sight of their M60A3s. When the loader used a dummy round, all turret crewmembers became involved. A Tank Crew Evaluator (TCE) evaluates crew duties. fire commands, and records targets "hit." as determined by the M55. This training technique added realism and provided a challenge to other crews and units. A portable power supply and slave cable allow the tanks to maintain full charge on their batteries, and crews are able to incorporate power or manual mode of fire control operation. Platoons rotate crews through their assigned tank during the weekend drill. As each company painted the snake-board at its armory, it tried to improve it. C Company wanted a greater variety of targets, so it added a flat two-dimensional target, heated with small hand-size heating pads. The type that hunters use work well. C Company also incorporated two 35-mm slide projectors to add vehicle identification to target engagement. Since the TTS will 42 ARMOR - September-October 7989

As seen at left, Wisconsin Guardsmen painted a snake-board on their home armory wall to supplement range gunnery training. Not visible in this view are scale model targets, two-dimensional outline targets, and slide projector images used to enhance realism. A generator powers the tank. not pick up the slide projections, the gunncr must use a normal daylight sight, and with two projectors, a multiple engagement is presented. Crews have to engagc correctly and properly identify the target. Vehicle recognition is thus incorporated into the training. The snake-hoard with add-on tar-This type of training has proved extremely bcneficial to the Mobilization-Day soldier. It provides not only actual hands-on-training, but also improves the soldiers' familiarity within their crew assignments. The end result for the "Will Do" Battalion was lower opening times and attainment of the published standard lor qualification gets is standard across the battalion. on TT VIII. Lieutenant Colonel Gerald R. Whitfield joined the Wisconsin National Guard in 1956 as a basic infantryman. He served with 32nd Infantry Division during the Berlin Mobilization in 1961. After serving with Company D, 2-128 Infantry, he applied for OCS. He received his commission from the Wisconsin Military Academy. LTC Whitfield's following assignments include assistant planning and training officer in the G3, State Headquarters; and troop commander, 105th Cav. After branch transfer from Armor to Infantry, he served as battalion S2, 2-127 Infantry Battalion; brigade S2, 32nd SIB; battalion S3, 2-127 Infantry Battalion, which included a deployment exercise for Reforger 86, followed by assignment as battalion XO. He branch transferred back to Armor to assume his present assignment as commander of 1 -632d Armor Battalion. Major Douglas L. Dilday entered the Army as an Armor Officer in 1974 after graduating from Central Michigan University. He has been a support platoon leader, cavalry platoon leader, squadron motor officer, company commander, and S3, serving in several Armor and Cavalry units in Germany and CONUS. He also served in various operational staff assignments at division, corps, and army level. He has completed Armor Basic and Advanced Courses and the Motor Officer's Course, and is a recent graduate of C&GSC. He was assigned as the Army Advisor to the 1-632d Armor, 32d Separate Infantry Brigade, Wisconsin Army National Guard when he co-wrote this article. He is presently assigned to the USACACDA Threat Directorate, Fort Leavenworth, Kan. ARMOR - September-October 7989 LElTERS - from Page 3 vice support capability.at brigade and below? I suspect we did.

COL (USA, Retired) Enterprise, Ala. "The APFT regularly reminds me of where I fit..." Dear Sir: CPT Schweppe's thoughts on Army fitness and combat readiness in last month's ARMOR caught my attention for many reasons. Among them are his and General Grey's quoted remarks which downplay correlations between soldier physical "readiness" and performance in the proven and economical APFT. England's Royal Marines were practicing General Grey's advice when 1 was training with them in 1983. We routinely performed the fireman's carry with our buddies in PT sessions. Sometimes we did this in "fighting gear", sometimes in shorts and Adidas. The difference was that rifles and boots slowed us down a bit. Also not surprisingly, the top performers in push-ups, sit-ups, and running were those same top performers in the gamut of more grueling tests - not because we had been practicing the fireman's carry in our spare time, but because we took pride in whatever we did. 1 remain uncertain with segregating terms like "corporate fitness'' and soldier "athletes". Do they fit on a continuum somewhere between Olympic champion and couch potato? Where do we draw the line? The APFT regularly reminds me where I fit and confirms what 1 have known for years: If you work a muscle, feed a muscle, and rest a muscle, its efficiency improves. This law, or something like it, must exist somewhere in the annals of science, but 20th Century Americans. civilian and military, still have trouble with at least one of its components. I know CPT Schweppe would like to put the infantry in rucksacks one day and judo gees the next. Let's include good ideas like this, as appropriate, to already successful training programs, and continue to monitor physical fitness/ readiness, or whatever we're calling strength, stamina. and spirit nowadays, with the APFT.

APMS, Loyola U. Chicago, 111. 43