On Wednesday afternoon, immediately after the conclusion of the command-and-staff exercise codenamed Grad-16, conducted with the staff of the 3rd Lower Silesian Artillery Regiment, and after its immediate debriefing, the regiment’s subunits achieved readiness for the Fire Control Training codenamed Nawała-16.
For artillerymen, live-fire exercises are one of the key elements of training. As part of the Fire Control Training, the coordination of all elements involved in the fire-control process is tested—from developing firing data to firing the shot, and from detecting the target to neutralizing it. It is a complicated process requiring knowledge, skills and commitment.
All of the regiment’s subunits take part in it. The command-and-control battalion ensures the functioning of the command and fire-control system, the logistics battalion delivers ammunition and other combat supplies, while the artillery battalions carry out fire missions.
All these elements were improved and assessed during the final stage of the 23rd Artillery Regiment subunits’ field training: the Fire Control Training codenamed Nawała-16.
After receiving their tasks from the training director, the subunits moved to the designated areas, where they began carrying out tactical and fire missions against the backdrop of the adopted tactical situation. The subordinates of Lieutenant Colonel Piotr Kobyłecki, commander of the 3rd Lower Silesian Artillery Regiment, carried out fire missions after planning and organizing their activities—the batteries of 122 mm WR-40 Langusta multiple rocket launchers engaged targets from concealed firing positions, both during the day and in conditions of limited visibility. In addition to the primary training unit, crews of 152 mm DANA self-propelled howitzers from the 1st Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion also carried out fire missions.
Alongside conducting fire operations, the subunits carried out tasks related to combat support. The trainees had to respond to a series of simulated incidents, with the manner of resolution and response time assessed by the evaluators.
An important element of the training was cooperation with other branches of the armed forces. During the preparatory stage for the Fire Control Training, the engineering company of the 1st Engineer Regiment from Brzeg carried out fortification works at the firing positions. It prepared gun emplacements for the 3rd Lower Silesian Artillery Regiment’s launchers and the 1st Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion’s howitzers. Soldiers from the artillery subunits had an opportunity to see how the sappers performed their tasks, while the sappers observed how the effects of their work were used.
During the Fire Control Training, an Mi-2R artillery reconnaissance crew from the 1st Aviation Brigade of the Land Forces from Inowrocław carried out reconnaissance and fire-support tasks. The procedure for indicating targets to the navigator and reporting observations to the firing subunit was practiced several times. Weather conditions also made it possible to carry out this element during live-fire exercises. An important element of the cooperation was joint training with soldiers from the special forces subunits of the AGAT unit in conducting reconnaissance and fire control as part of the Call For Fire procedure. The “special forces operators” presented their reconnaissance equipment and had an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the tactics and methods used by the artillery subunits of friendly forces.
Summing up the Fire Control Training and the entire two-week period of field training, the commander of the 23rd Artillery Regiment, Colonel Paweł Świtalski, emphasized that the intended objectives of the field training had been achieved, and that the conclusions and experience gained would be used in further training.
At the end, the commander of the Bolesławiec artillerymen thanked the soldiers for their commitment and training results to date. At the same time, he extended his greetings to everyone present on the occasion of the regiment’s holiday, which coincided with the conclusion of the Fire Control Training. The final stage of the field training was redeployment to the garrison, where the subunits restored their combat readiness.
Captain Remigiusz Kwieciński/ii