Convoy Live Fire mounted course opens at month’s end             Chris Rasmussen    Leader Staff

Conducting convoy operations is a critical skill for Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. So much so, a new live fire course is being introduced at Fort Jackson to better replicate the types of situations they will face once they are deployed. Camden Convoy Live Fire, which is slated to open for training April 21, is a 4.3-mile mounted combat course featuring remote-controlled pop-up targets. The course will replace Anzio Range, which has been used in the past to train Basic Combat Training Soldiers. Brig. Gen. James H. Schwitters, Fort Jackson commanding general, observed candidates from the Drill Sergeant School go through a full-dress rehearsal of Camden Convoy Live Fire April 3. “This new course is designed to provide enhanced opportunity to train those specific individual and basic collective skills required to be successfull in theater,” Schwitters said. “It is a considerable expansion and improvement of the training at Anzio. The added realism and increased opportunities to shoot will better prepare  Soldiers for what they will encounter when they deploy.” Company B, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment is the first company scheduled to use the course. “We have a few things to do here and there, but we are ready to open,” said Mark Smagner, Range Control chief of operations. “This should be a very interesting range. Everyone is pumped up about it.” The new course, which has the capacity to train up to company-sized platoons simultaneously, features an After Action Review Site, a staging area with ammo points and water pods where the convoys will start and finish.  The site is located along Fire Break 39 between Johnson Rifle and Dixie roads. The area has the capacity to hold 14 convoy vehicles. Seven convoy vehicles at a time would proceed onto the course, which would include a lead command High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), four gun trucks, an ambulance and a follow HMMWV equipped with a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).  The course goes down the firebreak, jogs along another firebreak until meeting Dixie Road near Remagen Hand Grenade Range.  The convoy would then travel down Dixie Road, turn south down another firebreak before entering the live-fire portion of the course between the Forward Aid Station and Omaha Beach Range. The live-fire portion of the course is 2.1 miles and includes six infantry and tank target areas spread across its length. Targets are remote controlled and pop up as the convoys pass. Troops will traverse the course three times — a dry run, a blank run and a live-fire run. It is expected to take about 30 minutes to complete during the live-fire run. The project, which was approved in 2005 by then Fort Jackson Commanding General Brig. Gen. Abraham Turner, follows a convoy operation design created by the Army Corps of Engineers. Funding for the new course, however, was deferred until 2007 because of Base Realignment and Closure priorities.  Anzio Range Convoy Live Fire will remain open for the Drill Sergeant School and Advanced Individual Training Soldiers. Chris.Rasmussen@us.army.mil