ANNISTON, Ala. --
The sharp crack of
rapid fire fills the air, stirring up dust and smoke on the
far-off hills of Pelham Range. A line of Marines
focus their sights on the targets spread along
the hills of the range as their gloves tighten
around the grips of their machine guns. Their fingers
pull the triggers and release bursts of bullets and
smoke. As the trigger pulls slow, the distant
ringing of machine-gun fire and empty casings striking
the ground tapers off, letting the smoke
settle as the group prepares for their next round of
fire.
The Marines of Battery
M, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division,
Marine Forces Reserve, assembled at Pelham Range in
Anniston, Alabama on Sept. 19, 2015, to
refresh their knowledge and train on three different
crew-served weapons. They started early,
preparing for the trip and giving impromptu classes
to ensure everyone gained the knowledge
they needed.
“It started out we had
every piece of gear we need, we loaded up and gave a hip pocket
verbal class on the fundamentals and general data on
the M249 SAW, the M240 and the M2 50-
cal,”said
Sgt. Donovan
Walters, the ordinance maintenance chief of Battery M. “We then did a
practical application where they demonstrated
proficiency and we loaded up and fired.”
As the Marines fired on
the scattered targets, they focused on the fundamentals of each
weapon system and took advantage of the time they
were given to train.
“As Reserve Marines we
don’t get to be as familiar with it in a day in day out situation
like the active duty Marines, so we have to be able
to come in once a month to utilize our
training,” said Cpl. David Osborne, assistant section
chief of Battery M. “We will make sure we
are ready and prepared whenever we are called upon.”
As an artillery battery,
each of the Marines is tasked with ensuring they are proficient in
not just one weapon system but multiple weapons
systems. The Marines trained specifically on
three different crew-served weapons to continue to
hone their skills and stay prepared for
anything.
“A lot of people think of
artillery as just shooting the howitzers, but there is a lot more to
it. You have local security so you need to know how
to setup those machine guns to employ
battery defense,” said Gunnery Sgt. William Potting,
Gunnery Sergeant for Battery M. “You
need to be able to protect yourself, so the Marines
need to be up on their crew-served weapons
capabilities.”
Though the Marines are
not able to practice with these particular systems as much as
their active duty counterparts, they stayed on
target and proved they remain proficient and fully
capable of
using each of the weapons.
The Marines did very
well, it has been a little while since we did get out here and have
shot the weapons but it is like riding a bike for
these Marines,” said Potting. “I was impressed
with the way they employed the weapons. It’s like
they never walked away from them.”
The Marines of Mike
Battery took full advantage of their time on Pelham Range they
focused their sights on the mission and
accomplishing it with ease. They will continue to remain
locked on their mission and prepared to use any of
their capabilities when they are called to the
fight.