Live Fire Exercise Next to Khilagay Base
Szöveg: HUN PRT PAO | 2011. szeptember 22. 8:51The hills of the “zero point” range in Hungary can hardly stand comparison with the vast area next to Khilagay Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Afghanistan. The Khilagay shooting range is surrounded by huge mountains covered with sand and dust, which were once under the control of the Soviet armed forces. The four-day live fire exercise started on September 11 on the range, as the entire personnel of the Hungarian Provincial Reconstruction Team could not practice shooting on a single range day. Only those soldiers attended the first range day from the HUN PRT-11 who leave Camp Pannonia regularly in performing their duties. They have to be ready all the time to use their weapons professionally, precisely and quickly.
First and foremost, upon arriving in the area of operations (AO), they had to zero their weapons (adjust the guns/optics) during daytime and nighttime target practices, which took place between September 13 and 15. Of course, the EOD technicians also participated in these LFXs.
There are a number of soldiers who do not have the assault rifle as their primary weapon, but the amount of ammo issued for the target practice enabled them to test their own weapons in operation. They took this opportunity too, because all soldiers serving in Afghanistan may be assigned some FP tasks any time. In addition to the individual weapons, the LFX involved firing the turret guns of the MRAP MAxxPro vehicles as well. The operators of the 12.7mm DShK machine gun with a maximum range of +5 kilometers had an opportunity to test their marksmanship skills. The gunners were to prove themselves in the tasks of individual target spotting, target acquisition and fire support.
All in all, the HUN PRT contingent closed the four-day live fire exercise with satisfactory results. The personnel is scheduled to execute a number of further LFXs to maintain their weapon handling and marksmanship skill levels.
