Gun Crew
Pfc. Jolicoeur Kirouac, SSgt. Peter Bazo, Spc. John Walsh, Spc. William Goboff, Spc. Paul Hawthorne and Spc. Jonathan Wilkinson, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, are proud of their work at FOB Blackhawk.
There is a wonderful little irony that gets played out whenever soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery go into action.
For long periods of time, out here on a distant corner of FOB Blackhawk, they wait quietly for a mission.
As I worked with SSgt. Peter Bazo, Spc. John Walsh, Pfc. Jolicoeur Kirouac, Spc. William Goboff, Spc. Paul Hawthorne and Spc. Jonathan Wilkinson in remodeling the shelter for the rounds and powder, I remember saying to Bazo how quiet it was, but that it would change when they got a mission.
"Oh yeah, it's quiet right now," said Bazo. "But once we start firing these guns, all hell breaks lose."
The guns he referred to are 155mm howitzers. A weapon that simply looks powerful, the gun can hurl an almost 100-pound shell over 20 miles.
"When one of these shells comes down even near the enemy, they will experience a significant change to their day," commented Bazo.
In short order, a fire mission came down to the crew from the fire direction center (FDC).
Bazo and his crew sprang into action. As Bazo relayed information from a handheld digital fire control system, Walsh brought powder up, Kirouac and Goboff loaded a shell, Hawthorne placed the gunpowder, and then he and Wilkinson made sure that the gun's deflection and quadrant were correct.
Once ready, Wilkinson stood by to pull the lanyard.
"Fire!" yelled Bazo.
With the big gun's report the earth shook, a shock wave radiated out away from the gun, and dust exploded into the air.
The noise was immense. As Bazo had said, all hell had broken lose.
Surrounded by smoke and dust, the crew jumped into action and began reloading another round. Within a minute, the gun was ready to go.
"Fire!" yelled Bazo again.
As the dust and smoke grew thicker, the crew continued to work as one.
Two more shells screamed down range before the crew completed its mission. The sound and fury of the King of the Battlefield was over.
As the dust settled and the gun crew began to get ready for its next mission, it grew quiet again.
Comments for "3-17 FA goes into action" (4)
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Larry J spears said on Feb. 18, 2010 at 1:14pm
I was with the 3d 17 fa in 1980 when the unit was at merrell barrcaks west germany. Keep on rockin Guys you got my support all the way.
Ray Lopez said on Oct. 05, 2011 at 7:59am
I was assigned to this unit during the early days of my military career (1990-1994). The unit was stationed at Bleidorn Kaserne in Ansbach, Germany. After Desert Shield / Desert storm--the unit was relocated to Fort Sill, OK. My understanding is that currently it's located at Fort Lewis, WA. I'm glad that 3/17th FA still around and providing excellent DS support to today's warfighters. The King of Battle!....
jason collins said on Apr. 30, 2012 at 3:43pm
I was assigned to the 3/17 during desert storm. I left boot camp and AIT (31K) which was shortened to join the unit during the conflict. Met some friends i will never forget and it helped me grow into the man i am today. Carry on 3/17...
Kevin Browning said on Feb. 10, 2013 at 5:16pm
I was stationed with A 2/28, when it was redesignated to the 3/17. I was the supply clerk and I can remember all of the headaches from having to transfer everything over. Each and every soldier had to come to the supply room and be issued new unit patches by myself and SSG Lacey. I would love to hear from you all at kevinbrowning66@yahoo.com.
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