(Written by Reporter Li, Yi-Hao from Military News Agency, Pingtung, August 19th)
To verify the training effect, the 8th Army carried out 2015 exercise of artillery shooting at Xiaojianshan today. Participating soldiers fully showcased the skillful actions and high morale to demonstrate the solid training results of artillery troops and complete the task.
In the morning, Lieutenant general Wang, Hsing-Wei, Deputy Chief of Staff of Ministry of National Defense, oversaw the entire process of exercise and invited the local representatives, gentry, and residents as well as cadres from reserve counseling centers to participate in the exercise to jointly witness excellent combat skills of national armed forces; Deputy Chief of Staff Wang awarded the subsidy on behalf of Minister Gao Guangqi to participating soldiers to praise for their efforts and excellent effects.
In the exercise, the soldiers simulated the “anti-ship shooting”. First, the personnel from the command center carried out the firing support and coordination and ordered the shooting task after placing M110A2 8-inch self-propelled guns, M114A1 155-mm howitzers, and M101A1 105-mm howitzers in position. Every kind of artillery shot one bullet for warm-up and inspection. After the observation officer corrected the point of impact, the artillery was loaded and carried out the “firing for effect” at the same time. With formed barrage, the target in a distance of 7 km was accurately shot to effectively eliminate the invading enemy.
The 8th Army indicated that this task is the annual routine exercise of artillery troops. The exercise aims to verify the functions of various types of artillery and carry out the joint operations of “shooting direction, surveying, observation, communications, and artillery firing”, which allows soldiers to practice the field firing, advance their professional knowledge and operation of joint firing coordination, and strength the overall capacity for defense.