CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — Soldiers from the Alabama National Guard's 1670th Transportation Company, currently deployed to Kuwait under 1st Theater Sustainment Command were able to provide training to their Soldiers during their deployment that they would not be able to at home.
"In Alabama we do not have the ranges like this, so we are taking advantage of the Udairi range complex out here, to be able to conduct this training," said 1st Lt. Kolby Jarquin, 1670th TC.
Soldiers of the 1670th conducted convoy live fire training, which consisted of vehicle crews providing security and firing at moving targets. Camp Buehring, Kuwait provided the 1670th ideal training conditions, such as high winds, sand storms and extreme temperature differences.
"The 1670th came out here to train their vehicle crews on convoy defense. More than anything this is giving the Soldiers the experience in operating the vehicles and engaging targets," said Lt. Col. Lucas Hightower, 553rd CSSB commander.
The training consisted of a convoy moving through several engagements and practicing two offensive movements, two battle position or stationary movements, and two defensive movements. Soldiers fired at 11 targets using .50 caliber and M240 machine guns, going through approximately 500 rounds per vehicle. The entire route takes about an hour.
"Myself and Sgt. 1st Class Robert Fisher, who is my Range Safety Officer, have been working on this range for about five weeks," said Jarquin, "this range will also be adopted by Area Support Group Kuwait. They are actually going to use our concept of operations to build a convoy live fire exercise. They are using us as a base point to develop an exercise for everyone else to use."
Army transportation companies play a vital role in sustainment operations as they transport goods and equipment where they are needed both while deployed as well as in garrison. As such, providing security for those shipments becomes just as important.
"In a transportation company, when you are hauling goods, every platoon has between three and five gun trucks. What we are doing is actually running through all of the crews," said Jarquin, "We have six-gun trucks in first platoon and six-gun trucks in second platoon for a total of 12 gun trucks. In the event that we had to escort a convoy with all of the assets that we have we would have a total of 12 securing the entire convoy."