Written by Sgt. Mary S. Katzenberger, 1st AAB, 3rd Inf. Div., USD-C Sunday
August 15, 2010 BAGHDAD – “No one ever said tanking was easy.” U.S. Army Sgt. John Dunmeyer, sweating profusely but wearing a smile on his face, shares this witticism with four Iraqi Army Soldiers after he and mechanic Spc. Christopher Pettibone have struggled for almost 10 minutes to remove the air filter pre-cleaner from the hull of an M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.
Sgt. Anthony Ciofalo, an armor crewman with Company D, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, works with Iraqi Army Pvt. Hamza Abas Shalan on identifying driver controls during U.S.-led tank refresher training at Joint Security Station Al Rashid, July 29, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Garutti.
Dunmeyer, an armor crewman, and Pettibone, an Abrams tank mechanic, are two of eight U.S. Soldiers with Company D, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, who recently instructed IA Soldiers from 1st Company, 4th Tank Regiment, 35th Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division in the U.S.-led tank refresher course taught here at Joint Security Station Al Rashid.
The training served as a refresher for the IA Soldiers and will compliment future training from American civilian instructors during the M1A1 new equipment course here at Besmaya Range Complex.
The Government of Iraq has purchased 140 M1A1s—to be fielded in September—to both modernize its Army and to ensure a continued strategic partnership with America.
Constructive feedback from some of the first IA Soldiers to graduate and a thorough, internal after-action review helped streamline the 44 training modules now being presented, allowing for concurrent training and more efficient course delivery.
“In tanking, many of the tasks are compound,” Dunmeyer said. “(After) going through the first course, we were able to identify modules we could rearrange so the tasks build upon one another.”
For example, weapons such as the M240B machine gun and .50-caliber Browning machine gun are now introduced at the beginning of the course, instead of later in the course when the IA Soldiers are taught how to fully prepare each of the tank stations—gunner, loader, driver and commander—for operation.
“This way they can get familiar with the weapons on the ground before they get them on the tank,” Dunmeyer said.
In addition, crew evacuations and fire extinguishing procedures are now covered prior to the day the IA Soldiers operate the tanks to ensure the safety of the troops in the event of a fire.
Staff Sgt. John Rideout said while the core of the curriculum has faced minor tweaking, there are two aspects of the course his team of instructors will continue during future sessions—hands-on training and an end-of-course skills competition.
Mechanics were able to share their technical expertise with the IA Soldiers when the course called for removing the power pack—the automatic transmission—and removing the track to change road wheels.
Sgt. Daniel Valdez, lead Abrams mechanic, said the last few days of the course were the most enjoyable for him and his Soldiers.
“When it came to hands-on, they were ready to jump in and participate,” he said.
A timed competition on skills, such as weapons disassembly and reassembly, crew station preparations and crew evacuations, was followed by question-and-answer sessions intended to test the IA Soldiers’ knowledge retention.
“None of us knew what to expect,” Dunmeyer said. “The (IA) Soldiers exceeded all of our expectations in training on the M1A1.”
The American Soldiers said the current platoon they are training might even set the bar of excellence higher. However, they admit they do miss the friends they made through the course of the first class.
“After we spent three weeks together, I definitely felt I had four new friends,” Dunmeyer said. “I feel they considered me a friend as well.”
The Company D Soldiers plan to train the entire 1st Co., one platoon at a time, before heading home to Fort Stewart, Ga.
Stumble It!
