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Support troops "center of gravity" for combat training

Oct 5, 2010

By Spc. Justin Naylor, 2nd BCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.

FORT HOOD, Texas -- For Soldiers training in the field for weeks at a time, crawling in and out of hot vehicles and shooting round after round at plastic targets, the last thing going through their minds is probably to question where the rounds they're shooting come from or who fixed broken equipment on their tanks.

Thankfully for the combat Soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, many of whom are still in or just returning from the field after various training gunneries, there is a constant behind-the-scenes team of Soldiers in the 15th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd BCT, who are always ready to provide supplies, fix broken equipment and cook hot meals for Soldiers in the field.

Soldiers from this battalion have supported all the gunneries the brigade has had this year, explained Maj. Brian Olson, a Newport News, Va. native and the support operations officer for 15th BSB.

According to Olson, his Soldiers provide support through fuel, water, transportation, water purification, distribution, ammunition, general and specialized maintenance, medical support, and various other functions.

The most important part of gunnery is the gun line; that's where Soldiers shoot their weapons, drive their vehicles and train to the cavalry standard, he continued.

"We do everything we can to support that gun line so they can fire and train to their fullest," said Olson.

For the Soldiers of 15th BSB that spend day and night supporting the gunneries of their fellow units, the last few weeks have been pretty busy.

For Staff Sgt. Mentee Gaye, a Philadelphia native and the non-commissioned officer in-charge of the armament section, the gunnery training has had his Soldiers working nights, weekends and extended days just to keep up.

Gaye's armament section is responsible for providing technical support on small arms as well as fire control systems on Bradley Fighting Vehicles and tanks.

He and his Soldiers have fixed more than 130 different pieces of equipment since the gunneries began.

"We do everything we can to help keep them in the fight," he said.

Gaye said the gunnery has given him the opportunity to thoroughly train his junior NCOs and Soldiers.

"They're all getting a lot of hands-on time," he said.

In addition to training his Soldiers, the gunnery has also given Gaye the opportunity to work with Soldiers from the Forward Support Companies that directly support individual battalions.

"We bring their armament guys up and give them lessons on new equipment and techniques so they can take this information back and have these capabilities right there in the field with their units," he explained.

"This shows them what they're going to be doing downrange," said Pfc. Bryan Santos, a cook with 15th BSB, about junior Soldiers in his unit.

During gunnery, our cooks get to set up mobile kitchens and cook food for more than 700 Soldiers, he continued.

"This is our gunnery training," he said. "This refreshes our skills."

Although cooking meals and fixing broken vehicles may not be glamorous, the true reward comes from the pride in supporting your brigade to success.