The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 10, 1981 Page: 21 of 28
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ARM
The field lay quiet except for the
crackle and hissing of scattered fires
billowing black smoke. Several
holes blown into the earth and con-
verted into trenches were full of pale
green water. A human torso lying
face down was half-in and half-out of
a stagnant pool.
Suddenly a small canister flew
onto the field. A few seconds after
3/67
By ROBERT MITCHEM
SECTOR CHECK PFC Fabian Lyles a member of 2nd
Sqdn. 1st Pit. Co. C 2nd Bn. 41st Inf. 2nd Armd. Div. uses a
compass to locate the limits of his sector while drawing up
his range data card. (Photo by Robert Mitchem)
......
Tank Table VIII is the coup de gras for tankers trained to shoot move
and communicate. But for the professionals of Co. A 3rd Bn. 67th
Armor 2nd Armd. Div. it pales to a routine game.
The soldiers of Co. A have for the second year in a row driven from
the field with the High Tank Award. It is a prestigious honor and is
coveted by every tank company.
The award goes to those tankers who distinguish themselves by hav-
ing the highest scores on the gunnery qualification range. TT VIII is the
final test following six months of training and learning.
“You have to engage six targets for six points on the daylight range
and three more at night without getting any unsatisfactory scores. Then
you get one more point for a total of ten when you return with unused
ammunition” said Sp4 Ronald Boettcher a high tank gunner with 1st
Pit. Co. A. “It may not seem like it but it’s pretty rare to get that kind of
score” he said.
“I’m a loader for two different tanks” said PFC Terry Saddler a
member of 2nd Pit. Co. A. “After I’ve finished going down range with
one tank I jump on another and load for that crew too” he said.
This double timing ammo dunking helps Saddler maintain the four
hitting the ground it sprayed smoke
creating a thick blanket of cover.
Springing from the bushes members
of 2nd Sqd. 3rd Pit. of Charlie 2/41st
Inf. moved quickly onto the battle-
field.
The soldiers had forced marched
12 kilometers to ARTEP East. Car-
rying more equipment than normal
they had marched 12 kilometers in an
Armor tankers score perfect
TANK TABLE
2/41 Inf.’s squads attack during ARTEP
hour and a half.
“We stayed together by rotating
our equipment between each other”
said Sgt. Rufus Mack team leader
2nd Sqd 3rd Pit. Co. C. “If we don’t
make it with all of our equipment and
all of our men then we’re disqual-
ified” he said.
“Number one man Go! Number
two man Go!” Sgt. Isacc Arm-
strong squad leader of 2nd Sqd. 3rd
Pit. Co. C ordered his men onto the
field. He continued barking orders as
the squad crept forward on elbows
and stomach.
“Stay low! Take up your positions
along those rocks.” He had already
mapped out a plan of attack for the
squad. Each man knew the position
he would take along the wall and the
type target he was to engage.
As the men reached the foot-high
stone wall they began setting up their
50-caliber machine gun and light
anti-tank weapons.
Meanwhile back in the bush PFC
Clifford Hadley a member of the
squad guarded the rear with a Dra-
gon. The medium anti-tank weapon
was fitted with a laser sensing device
to aid in scoring hits.
One of the men had injured his
hand on apiece of wreckage and was
being bandaged by a fellow soldieh
“Infantry troops are jacks of all
trades” said PFC Thomas Aqueros a
member of the squad. “On exercises
like this someone whoever is most
proficient is designated as the
medic. This squad has been used as
the firing squad for funerals. We even
know how to buff floors” he said.
Down range a set of targets pop-
ped up and the team leader ordered
an engagement. Within seconds the
field was alive with small arms fire
and lit up with tracers from the .50-
caliber. Again and again targets pop-
ped up at various ranges and the men
6
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shifted their positions to get abetter
view of the field.
Finally as quickly as it had begun
the shooting stopped when one of the
evaluators ordered a cease-fire.
After clearing their weapons the
squad filed into the woods for a brief-
ing on how things went. “The brief
1 0
second loading time his company requires. “I got lucky this time and
only had one misfire to correct” he said.
It doesn’t matter if the crew of a tank is the best in the world if their
tank isn’t up to par failure is imminent. “Even if there’s great communi-
cations within the crew and everybody knows their job something can
always break down. A gun will get jammed or something and in a
combat situation maintenance time eats away at your fighting time”
said Boettcher.
“When we find something wrong we do all we can to get the equip-
ment back up and operational” said Sgt. Jerry Bronson a maintenance
man with Co. A 3rd Bn. 67th Armor.
Bronson explained that there was nothing special about his tanks. It
was just a close observance on the part of the tankers and the mainte-
nance sections to the prescribed preventative maintenance procedures
that kept their tanks operating so well.
The winning formula for these soldiers also contains a large dose of
esprit-de-corps. “Morale is better here than in any other unit because we
know we’re good” said Darby. This esprit is obvious to all who observe
the company perform.
Settling back on haunches of steel Co. A 3/67th is now readying for
the holiday season and taking some time to savor its accomplishments.
Not until January will the thunderous voices of the “Hounds of Hell” be
heard again.
Wfr
I SEE YOU PFC Fabian Lyles a member of
2nd Sqd. 1st Pit. Co. C 2nd Bn. 41st Inf. 2nd
Armd. Div. squats in the bushes aiming a
Dragon simulator. He and his target are fit
9
Thursday ecem ber 10 1981 THE
ing does help because I’ve noticed an
improvement over their first exer-
cise” said SFC Shelton Hickerson
one of the evaluators after the
squads second run on the field.
“They scored 24 kills out of a possi-
ble 30 and their team work was more
coordinated this time around” said
Dining Out
Sp4 Ralph Merscham a medic assigned to HHC 1st (Tiger)
Bde. 2nd Armd. Div. cuts a Thanksgiving apple pie while on
Kitchen Police duty on Thanksgiving at Fort Irwin Calif.
The 2nd Armd. Div. soldiers who spent the holiday in the
desert found that other than being open air the holiday
meal was pretty much the same as every year lots of food
all carefully prepared by the unit’s cooks. All of the units at
Fort Irwin had a special meal at the field dining facilities in
observance of the holiday. (Photo by Robert Lusby)
HOOD SENTINEL
ted with MILES equipment to aid in scoring
and training.
1 -D
Shelton Hickerson.
Back on the field fresh tires were
being thrown onto the fires to keep
the black smoke going. At the edge of
the tree line another squad from the
2/41st surveyed the mock-up battle-
field of murky water holes and man-
nequin casualties.
(Photo by Robert D. Mitchem)
S
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The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 10, 1981, newspaper, December 10, 1981; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth309531/m1/21/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Casey Memorial Library.