As part of Artillery Relocation Training Exercise 10-3 Ojojihara, artillery batteries are conducting live-fire artillery training aboard Camp Sandai, Japan.

Before sending rounds down range, however, Marines must set up safety procedures, survey the impact area, set up communications and conduct a firing simulation with their howitzers.

RANGE CONTROL 

Range control personnel manage the range and are the first line of defense against unauthorized access. They enforce safety procedures and regulations. Simply put, the guns don’t fire without a green light from range control.  

“One of the first things that must be established is a range control,” said Capt. Jabbar R. Goughnour, a logistics officer with 3rd Bn. 12th Marines. “Range control’s job is to coordinate access to the maneuver area.”

Range control for ARTP 10-3 Ojojihara posted 16 road guards spread throughout the maneuver area who control access and ensure safety during live fire.

In the event of an emergency such as range fires, inclement weather, or an unauthorized entry to the range during live fire, range control has the responsibility to shut down the range or put the range in a check fire. As a safety net, any Marine who witnesses a safety violation may call a cease fire. 

COMMUNICATION 

The days of flags, smoke signals, and Morse code as primary communication tools may be over, but communication as a fundamental aspect of mission success is not lost on a military training exercise. With hot brass falling from the sky in the form of a 155mm shell, live-fire artillery is no different.

“With the terrain the way it is here, [communications] are very important,” said Chief Warrant Officer John Young, the range control officer for ARTP 10-3 Ojojihara. “Without communications we could not receive calls for fire, corrections for fire, [medical evacuation] calls or any calls concerning safety issues, and we couldn’t track movements of people and equipment.”

Early forms of artillery communications weren’t as effective Young said. 

In the old days, it was ideal to set up an observation post in a forward position to scout for enemy rally points. When found, the artillery guns would blanket the entire area with rounds. This proved to be both time consuming and a drain on resources as Marines would have to lay hundreds of yards of communication wire between the firing line and the post.

“Because of [modern] communication, adjustments to fire can be made quicker," Young explained. "Most of the time we are firing for effect after sending just one round down range to zero in the target."

Using the old systems, Young said, used to take 50 or 60 rounds.   

ARTILLERY BATTERY 

A live-fire artillery training exercise cannot take place without the howitzer. As the star of the show, they have to be prepared and tested to ensure success.

“Before we can begin live-fire we have to make sure everything is accounted for,” said 1st Lt. Matthew M. Browning, Bravo Battery’s executive officer. “Once we know that we have all of our gear accounted for, we have a fire-control alignment test. The test ensures the sights on the howitzers are accurate.”

From there, the battery leadership becomes familiar with the maneuver area and sets up targets that the gun crews will engage.  

“The next step is to move the howitzers and crews into position where they will begin the dry fire stage,” said Browning. “The dry fire stage is important because it allows us to ensure that everything is working properly and the live-fire exercises will go off without a hitch. During this time, we will move the gun positions three or four times and ensure the gun crews can set up the guns in time. The guns have to be set up in less than two minutes.”

Once the dry fire stage has ended, Marines are able to do what they are meant to do - put rounds down range. Leaders will thoroughly evaluate Marines on their overall performance, speed of setting up their firing positions, moving to new firing positions, and rate of fire. 

The battalion is conducting ARTP 10-3 Ojojihara to maintain operational readiness in support of the U.S. – Japanese security alliance.