ORCHARD COMBAT TRAINING CENTER, Idaho - The Oregon Army National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, sharpened its combat skills during annual training in late July, focusing on qualifying tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicle crews through intensive live-fire gunnery.
”The battalion came out to Orchard Combat Training Center to qualify primarily on our tanks and Bradleys and also with our mortars,” said Maj. Christopher Miller, battalion commander. “Being proficient on our weapons and vehicles is essential to mission success.”
As Oregon’s only armored combined arms battalion, the 3-116th Cavalry trains to expertly employ the crushing firepower of M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams Tanks and the rapid maneuverability of M2A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
During the day and night gunnery exercises, Abrams crews engaged targets out to 2,000 meters with the tank’s 120 mm main gun during the pivotal Table VI qualification. Bradley crews also tested their skills with their 25 mm cannons and coaxial machine guns.
“Table VI allows crews to perform as a cohesive team in simulated combat,” said Staff Sgt. Joaquin Murillo III, a seasoned tank platoon sergeant. “Operating the Abrams satisfies my passion for being a tanker.”
Maintaining vehicles for live-fire operations was vital.
“Our mission is keeping these combat vehicles rolling forward to complete the mission,” said Sgt. Sarah Bennett, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic and certified nursing assistant in civilian life. “The fleet of vehicles is like nonverbal patients, requiring individual care and expertise to run smoothly.”
These Citizen-Soldiers train one weekend per month, with annual training being the pinnacle of their year. Balancing service with civilian life and family requires commitment but brings camaraderie and personal growth.
“I serve to give back to the organization that’s given me so much,” said Bennett.
Miller said the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment offered its Soldiers multiple options for fulfilling annual training requirements, including the Orchard Combat Training Center event.
“Of 442 assigned Soldiers, more than 220 were present for this specific exercise,” he said. “The others had opportunities to participate in different training events earlier in the year, including deployments to Bangladesh and Morocco.“
The validation of 3-116th’s core competencies during this training is timely, as a company from the battalion will soon deploy to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Louisiana, to support the Oregon Army National Guard’s 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
“This annual training was very challenging, OCTC was very dry, and we had to pause training for high winds and multiple fires from high volumes of fire from our armored vehicles,” said Battalion Master Gunner Master Sgt. Joe Carson. “Ultimately, we overcame these obstacles and met our goal of qualifying essential crews while shooting over 100, 120 mm main gun rounds.”
“We’re like an extended family after so many deployments together,” said Miller. In remote eastern Oregon, Soldiers’ friendships often extend beyond drills into hunting, camping and riding ATVs together.”
This dynamic was displayed during annual training, with mentoring between seasoned NCOs and new privates, crews sharing firing table solutions, and maintainers passing down technical knowledge.