2 ROK STEADY - Eighth Army - U.S. Army

Fight Tonight
Tanker boots: not an easy
walk, but worth the journey
Story and photos by Staff Sgt. Kyle J. Richardson
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
Light snow blankets the ground while
motor fire resonates through the canyon.
The whirl and creek of several
tracks add to the medley of sounds. Thunderous
booms follow, penetrating nature’s chorus
and shaking the mountains ahead. Multiple
eruptions follow, boom after boom, unsettling
the ground beneath. After several minutes, the
bombardments cease. In the wake of heat and
exhaust, the earth lays still once again.
As the temperature continued to drop at
the Rodriguez Live Fire Range in Paju, South
Korea, the chill in the air did not slow the
“Manchu” tank crews of the 2nd Battalion, 9th
Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat
Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from dropping
mortar and tanks rounds into the mountain
range during their Table VI tank crew gunnery
certification exercise in December 2012.
The Manchu crews conduct their certification
training twice a year to ensure that they
are combat ready.
“Our Table VI certifications are very important,”
said 1st Sgt. Philip Pitlick, a Seattle native
and first sergeant for Company C, 2nd Bn.,
9th Inf. Regt., 1st ABCT. “This is where the
tank crews will test their gunnery skills. They
will use the coaxial machine gun, 120mm main
gun, M240 machine gun and the .50 cal.”
Besides testing the skills of tank crews on
a variety of weapons systems, the Table VI
crew certifications are one unique part of the
Manchu tradition where tank crews solidify a
position in the unit’s history.
“Most importantly, the overall goal of the
gunnery range is to safely qualify our tank
Right: Pvt. Alec Gutzwiller, a loader, straps on his tanker
boots after receiving them for a first time “go” during
the gunnery qualification.
26 ROK Steady