ment, Regional Training Institute (RTI), located at Camp Williams, Utah hosted a VIP Visit at the RTI. One of the courses being taught was the 13B10, Cannon Crewmember, a basic Field Artillery course. Among the VIPs in attendance were school administrators from the Jordan School District. I was able to invite Jim to attend. After an in brief and visit to the Battle Staff Course we drew field gear (Kevlar helmets and hearing protection) and headed to the Range. The primary field artillery weapon system used by the Army is the Paladin 155MM self propelled howitzer. The Paladin has a crew of four; commander, driver, gunner and loader and can operate independently on the battlefield with no external technical assistance. The Paladin fires a 100 pound projectile using a 40 pound charge. The firing range of the cannon is 24KM with an unassisted round. The range used Saturday was 11-15 KM. 
The commander of each of two Paladins dismounted and allowed each of the VIPs, one at a time, to enter the howitzer and fire the cannon by pulling the lanyard. 
Also in attendance in the field on Saturday was Horace Xochihua, Angie's Dad. Mr. Xochihua, is a retired ARNG NCO and a contract instructor for the 13S, Field Artillery Survey Course. The Cadre of the Field Artillery Battalion call him "Mr. X" or Mr. X-Ray" because they can pronounce his last name. 
When we finished the visit Jim and I posed for this photo at the the Regimental HQ Building.
Hi, this is Jim adding my two cents to this posting. First, if you want to see pictures posted here and other pictures enlarged, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/32522382@N05/. Second, I really enjoyed my time at Camp Williams. I really didn't know what to expect. While Bryce would never say this, paraphrasing the words of Anchorman Ron Burgundy, "He's kind of a big deal around there." As you can see from the picture above, Bryce is the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 640th Regiment. For reference, the Army chain of command from smallest to largest is: squad, platoon, company, batallion, brigade/regiment, division, corps, army. A battalion, which Bryce commands, has 300 to 1,000 soldiers.
The 640th Regiment Regional Training Institute at Camp Williams has a throughput of over 5,600 soldiers per year. That's the number of students that complete training in one of over 40 areas. These are soldiers from all over the country.
To give that some perspective, last year (2007-2008) there were 3,745 students enrolled at Snow College. There were 2,078 students enrolled at the College of Eastern Utah. There were 5,944 enrolled at Dixie State College. While the training may not be as long, the 640th provides instruction to more students than many of the State's higher ed. institutions. For the record, the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College (the largest and most awesome technical college in the western United States) provided instruction to 12,113 students last year.
Unlike traditional higher education where all students start at the beginning of predefined semesters and everyone ends at the same time, the 640th successfully manages the herculean task of maintaining a very robust and demanding training schedule. The logistics alone is incredible.
I was impressed with the instructional technology and great learning theory being employed by the instructors. The 640th has a new HQ and training building that is just about completed that would rival any ed. building on a traditional college campus.
The live fire exercise was great, and yes, what man/child wouldn't want to fire a 100 pound explosive projectile 12 kilometers. Serious, I couldn't stop grinning for 20 minutes. It was great to meet Scott's father-in-law. I was able to see that Camp Williams is a real gem that goes far beyond semi-annual live fire exercises. Bryce is clearly a major player in that success. I'm very proud of him.
4 comments:
Wow! Is this every man's dream to fire a really big gun?
Yes Bonnie, that pretty much sums it up.
I took the liberty to add some additional content to Bryce's original post. I wanted to share my perspective.
Yes Bonnie, every man wants to fire big guns and blow things up. I'm sure the sisterines may have some freudian explanation, but I should point out that my daughters like to shoot guns and as a matter of fact can out shoot any of my boys.
I'm getting the girls both AR-15s for Christmas. Nothing says "I love you" like a pre-Obama banned semi-automatic assault rifle. Let me say, you can really deck the halls with one of those bippies.
Thank you Jim for your additional comments. You're right about Bryce, he's far too humble to toot his own horn.
I'm proud of you too, Bryce. You've always been my hero!
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