As one of the newest artillery units on the Korean Peninsula, Soldiers of B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-U.S. Combined Division, conducted their first joint live-fire exercise since the battalion arrived in June.

Members of the "Rolling Thunder" battalion deployed several Paladin self-propelled howitzers to Rodriguez Live-Fire Complex July 12-17 to provide fires support to elements of the Army's elite 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment near Cheorown, South Korea.

"The purpose of this exercise is to provide joint fires and support the 75th Ranger Regiment with live-fire and maintain proficiency of our own," said Capt. John M. Cristiano, commander of B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 16th FA Regiment.

As a field artillery unit, the battery's objective is to neutralize enemy artillery and establish freedom of movement for ground components. That objective is accomplished through use of their Paladin weapon systems, which provide quick emplacement and a reasonable amount of protection from enemy fire, he said.

The exercise not only allowed the unit to familiarize itself on theater-specific processes and fire their first rounds in Korea, it also afforded the Rangers an opportunity to coordinate and call for artillery assets in close proximity, he said.

"It is good for our Fire Direction Center to get some experience talking to these people on the ground, hear how they call up their missions and what type of missions they use," said 1st Lt. Timothy Henderson, the exercise's range safety officer.

"Our Fire Direction Center will learn to process and interpret what they want and get the missions out to our guns," said Henderson, a Tully, New York native.

In addition to training Paladin crews, the unit also incorporated a target acquisition platoon to provide key targeting information using their advanced radar technology. Employment of the acquisition assets allow commanders to track the impact of their rounds and determine the firing origin of enemy projectiles.

"We are here to locate both friendly and enemy fires," said 1st Lt. Christopher Torres, the acquisition platoon's fire support officer and a Melville, Texas, native.

"The radar allows our guns to conduct counter-fire operations," he said. "It allows us to seek out the enemy's fire and report to the fire direction center to have the guns shoot back at the enemy artillery."