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Army Release: Ft. Polk Training Update
06/16/09 - 10:47 AM
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FORT POLK, La.  - Field Artillery cannon crew members and their leaders from the 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, conducted refresher training on Red Leg Field here during the first week of June.

A team of subject matter experts from Fort Sill, Okla., led the training.

“We bring back the artillery skills that these guys are lacking for various reasons, whether they have been at war or whether a lot of the leadership has left,” said Howard Kirkman, one of the instructors. “And so there is a gap there, and we come in and fill the gap. We bring them back up to speed.”

For Spc. Keith Gendron, it was his first time as a howitzer gunner, and he called the instruction beneficial.

“I know roughly how to do it, but this is definitely a big help, especially for the guys who have never done it before,” Gendron said.
“They are actually getting to go through and learn it as other guys are leaving. They will be able to step up and take their places.”

Unlike Gendron, Sgt. Fitzgerald Octave has been a howitzer gunner for seven years. He has deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. But even with all his gunner experience, Octave found the training valuable.

“It’s been so long since I have been on a sight as a gunner, since 2006, so a lot of stuff is coming back to me,” he said.

The instructors from Fort Sill let new Soldiers know “what right looks like,” Octave added.

Sgt. Thomas Bouvia, a battery gunner who helped with the training, said
5-25 Soldiers picked up knowledge that will pay off down the road: “This training is what is going to make or break these sections when it comes to section certifications, live-fire shoots, and deployments to Afghanistan.”