The training was preceded by an inaugural assembly of the soldiers participating in the field exercise and a briefing conducted by the training-area command personnel. After recalling the objectives and stages of the planned training, the regiment commander, Colonel Paweł Świtalski, discussed its main aims and expected outcomes, which are intended to prepare the regiment’s subunits for future training tasks during the year. He also called for the absolute observance of safety rules and the effective use of the time spent at the training facilities.
A quarter of an hour after the assembly ended, the commander of the 3rd Rocket Artillery Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Piotr Kobyłecki, assigned subordinate commanders the tasks of occupying the combat formation. This marked the beginning of the 3rd Rocket Artillery Battalion’s Fire Direction Training, codenamed “Ulewa 16.” The firing elements of the 3rd Rocket Artillery Battalion promptly left the camp in Trzebień to occupy the designated areas on the tactical range of OSPWL Świętoszów. Before that, commanders issued their final instructions. The regiment commander closely observed the actions of the personnel as he watched the battalion prepare for the exercise.
After occupying the waiting areas and loading the 122-millimetre WR-40 Langusta rocket launchers, the crews reported readiness. A few minutes after ten, the first commands to occupy firing positions and carry out live-fire tasks were issued from the battalion command post. The artillerymen began engaging the detected targets. The subsequent stages of the training were conducted by the battalion amid changing tactical situations and during both daytime and nighttime.
The results of the tasks carried out during the two-day training were satisfactory. Fire accuracy and the time taken to complete the live-fire tasks resulted in high scores for the battalion’s subunits.
The Fire Direction Training helped the battalion commander assess and verify the level at which combat readiness was maintained, the effectiveness of the subunits’ actions, and draw conclusions for further training. The training served as a test before the regiment’s Fire Direction Training awaiting the artillerymen, conducted by the commander of the 23rd Artillery Regiment during the final stage of the field training.
Capt. Remigiusz Kwieciński/ii