Battle Kings calibrate artillery rounds, charges

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- “King of the Herd” field artillery specialists and cannon crewmembers deployed with 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, at Forward Operating Base Shank are using tools accumulated from prepping countless artillery rounds to prepare for assisting troops in contact.

U.S. Army Pfc. Adam Hubbard, a cannon crewmember and field artillery specialist with the regiment, said the intricacies of calibrating artillery rounds and charges are more involved than people think.

“It’s a lot more than what most people think. Most people think its ‘pull string, go boom.’ That’s not at all what it is; it takes a lot to do what we do,” said Hubbard. 

“You’ve got to have the round runner bring out the round, make sure the charge is right, hand us the round, put the round in, have someone close the breach, put the deflection and quadrant in, make sure we’re going to be on point, and make sure everything goes smoothly as verified by our chief,” said Hubbard.

Every calibration involves connecting data with fire direction control, said Army Pfc. Kenneth Freeborn, a cannon crewmember and field artillery specialist with the regiment.

“We calibrate each lot and each powder to make sure we have all the data in the computer with fire direction control. When we fire a different lot, we have to calibrate each round, and check the velocity and how far that round is going to go,” said Freeborn.

“How far typically depends on what charge you have, there are a lot of different charges,” he explained.  “A charge two shoots a lot shorter than what a charge seven or charge eight would.” 

When calibrating, the cannon crewmembers use forward observers to verify target information, said Freeborn. 

“We have forward observers looking at the impact zone, telling us where to fire,” he said.  “They have marks where they want the rounds to land, so we just make our corrections and put the rounds on the ground.” 

The regiment calibrates lots, powders, and charges often because of the critical nature of responding accurately to assist troops in contact, said Hubbard. 

“The purpose of the calibration is that when we get a tic message, troops in contact, we run out to the guns and we know that when we shoot we’re going to be on point. We know that all our data is correct and that we’re going to hit the target that we intend to hit,” said Hubbard.

Both Freeborn and Hubbard agreed that being in the cannon trails is a great feeling.

“I love it; I wouldn’t do anything else in the Army,” said Freeborn.

“It’s a rush when you’re inside of the trails and the cannon goes off. There’s nothing like it in the world,” said Freeborn.

“It’s a great feeling hearing that round go off and hearing the boom, smelling the smoke that comes out. It’s a great feeling,” said Hubbard.  “We love to shoot, especially when our battle buddies need it. When they need us, we’re here to shoot for them and destroy the enemy.”