Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Wednesday, May 05, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

DISPATCH Iraq

By Edward Lee Pitts - Military Affairs

JISR NAFT, Iraq -- The 278th Regimental Combat Team brought out the big gun Wednesday to rattle the cages of suspected insurgents in this village of about 1,000 located eight miles from the 278th's Camp Caldwell.

Dangerous roadside bombs are popping up with greater frequency in this area that is regularly patrolled by the National Guard unit. The regiment's Pigeon Forge, Tenn.-based Howitzer Battery targeted its show of force, a furniture-rattling message, at a sheik who oversees this cluster of villages between Camp Caldwell and the Iranian border.

"There is not a whole lot happening there he doesn't know about or have a hand in," said 278th Lt. Joseph Minarick, of Oak Ridge, Tenn. "At the very least he is turning a blind eye to it and letting these guys stay in his village without calling us."

So early Wednesday morning a small detachment parked its artillery vehicle, called a Paladin, in a waist-high wheat field just outside the sheik's home and fired away with 10 rocket-propelled shells. Sgt. 1st Class Doug Reynolds, of Knoxville, said the concussion blasts bring a new meaning to the phrase "wake-up call."

"We want to let the towns know these are loud and let them know about our presence," said Sgt. 1st Class Reynolds, 37, early Wednesday morning as his crew prepared the vehicles for departure. "Some pictures on walls won't be in the same place when we get done. It should be fun."

THE BIG GUN

The official purpose of Wednesday's mission was to calibrate the weapons, much as infantrymen adjust the sights on their rifles. But Lt. Minarick said 1st Squadron leaders got creative in their location of the test firing.

The Paladin is a 30-ton vehicle on tracks that looks like a pudgy, snub-nosed tank. It travels at a top speed of 42 miles per hour, and its four-man crew is trained to fire its first 98-pound, 155 mm round less than one minute after stopping. The rocket-assisted shells used Wednesday have a range of up to 151'2 miles and will kill anything within 90 yards of their impact point, according to Staff Sgt. Jeff Patterson, 45, of Clinton, Tenn.

"It's like shooting from Cleveland to Chattanooga and hitting anything you wanted to by the second round," he said. "We never get to see what we are shooting at."

The Paladin howitzer became part of the 278th's arsenal in 2000, but despite being the regiment's heaviest hitter, its main duties in post-war Iraq have involved guarding the gates to two of the regiment's bases here. Its imposing presence at these gates acts as a silent deterrent to any plans of attack by those still fighting U.S. forces in Iraq, officials said.

Wednesday's mission marked the fourth off-base live fire assignment for the Paladin platoon out of Camp Caldwell. Another Paladin platoon is based farther north at Forward Operating Base Bernstein with the regiment's 2nd Squadron.

Members of the Camp Caldwell unit rushed a Paladin south of Balad Ruz in support of last month's firefight that killed 17 insurgents and two U.S. soldiers. But with so many U.S. and Iraqi soldiers on the field of battle that day, the Paladin never fired.

In addition to ammunition, the three Paladins at Camp Caldwell are used to launch illumination rounds into the air. That turns night into day for the nearby towns of Balad Ruz and Mandila whenever patrolling U.S. forces call for some light.

But Wednesday's 10 live rounds boosted this Paladin unit's total of live shells fired since arriving here last December to 86.

"We jump at every chance we get to get off the FOB (Forward Operating Base)," said Sgt. Michael Reagan, 34, of Sevierville, Tenn., and the gunner on Wednesday's mission. "Actually firing is like going to an amusement park. It's a big, action-packed ride."

LOCKING AND LOADING

For Wednesday's mission, forward observers called in the coordinates of the actual target -- an old Soviet T-72 tank sitting in the desert about 6 miles away. When in range, computers lock in most targets using a GPS-like system, but the crew Wednesday manually entered in the location's coordinates.

In addition to helping the Paladin crew lock on a target they can't see, the observers also keep away any shepherds or camel herders who wander too close to the landing zone.

The Paladin's crew of four worked as one in launching each round. Loading the muzzle demands stuffing one of the Paladin's 37 rounds into the barrel followed by powder and a primer. The team members echoed one another's shouted commands to ensure everyone is on the same page as the gun's long silver muzzle mechanically moved to its proper elevation.

Soldiers rammed a round into the chamber with a dull thump, but that sound instantly was drowned out by the massive firing boom, the echo of which could be heard all the way back to Camp Caldwell.

Even troops standing up to 50 meters behind the Paladin got hit in the chest by a powerful concussion blast. The howitzer itself lurched forward with each blast before becoming engulfed with dust kicked up from the desert floor. Despite the commotion, Sgt. 1st Class Reynolds said the blast no longer sounds loud to him after 17 years of working with Paladins.

However, Iraqi drivers on the highway just ahead of the howitzer could not resist reflexively swerving as each boom sounded. Soldiers joked about firing as soon as they saw a motorcycle coming down the road.

The first shell landed fewer than 100 meters from the tank target. With a few sight adjustments the subsequent nine rounds landed dead on, according to the forward observers. From first shell to last the firing lasted 30 minutes.

For the grand finale, the crew fired rounds six through 10 in rapid succession, with booms ripping the air at intervals of 31 seconds or less.

"I've played football all l my life, and the biggest hit I've ever had doesn't even compare to feeling the power when (a Paladin shell) takes off," said Spc. Jonas Clevenger, 20, of Newport, Tenn., who was promoted from private first class to specialist during a brief ceremony on top of the howitzer moments after the crew fired the last shell. "We're king of the battle."

No Iraqis, including the sheik, appeared in the wheat field during the 278th's firing showcase. As the howitzer and its Humvee escorts rolled back into Camp Caldwell in time for lunch Wednesday, Pfc. Zachary Bennett, 19, of Rogersville, Tenn., mused about the sights and sounds of his first time off the base since arriving in Iraq. As the driver, he spent most of the trip staring at the sun-baked brown mud huts scattered throughout the village.

"It was nice leaving the gates," Pfc. Bennett said.

But by Wednesday afternoon the crew was cleaning its Paladin. Today the unit and its howitzer are scheduled to be back on camp guard duty, hoping for another call to make some noise.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

U.S. Army Photo by Staff St. Russell Lee Klika The 278th Regimental Combat Team’s 1st Squadron fires a Paladin howitzer during a training mission in a wheat field near the village of Jisr Naft, Iraq, Wednesday. The Paladin fires rocket-propelled shells.

U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika Second Lt. Joseph Minarick, Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Patterson and Sgt. 1st Class Doug Reynolds, from left, watch as a crew prepares for a fire mission using a Paladin howitzer.

On the Web: Photos by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika of the 278th Regimental Combat Team are available on the Times Free Press Web site. Visit http://www.timesfreepress.com/kp

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