By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Crane, 133rd. Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
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Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Crump, HHB 138th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Lt. John Brough, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery and 2nd Lt. Theresa Mumford, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery, pose with their certificates of training after they graduated from the Joint Fires Observer's Joint Firepower Course at Fort Campbell, Ky.
FORT CAMPELL, Ky. – Soldiers from across the country came together to attend the Joint Fires Observer’s Joint Firepower Course Jan. 22 –Feb. 1, 2019.
There were students with the 101st Airborne, Special Forces, and Joint Terminal Attack Controllers in the course as well as our own Kentucky National Guard Soldiers from Bravo Battery, 138th Field Artillery. Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Crump, HHB 138th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Lt. John Brough, 1st Battalion 623rd Field Artillery and 2nd Lt. Theresa Mumford, 1st Battalion 623rd Field Artillery graduated.
“Our guys and girls did very well,” said Lt. Col. L. Allen Joiner, RTI Training Administrator. ‘They almost made top 10 out of 93 students; For a Army National Guard Officer or NCO, this was a great opportunity.”
The Joint Firepower Course is a 75-hour period of instruction that provides a doctrinal foundation, basic fundamentals, and practical application regarding the planning and integration of joint air and surface fires/effects in support of ground maneuver and unified action.
"It was a great broadening assignment," said Brough, who works in security at the Bluegrass Station Army Depot in Lexington. "It was very beneficial to me and my career.”
Students received instruction in joint doctrine, joint weapons and systems, and a 15+ hour practical exercise.
The students were given a brigade level Operation Order and were expected to dissect it and understand it by working through the seven-step Military Decision Making Process.
“We were broken down into groups of 10 to 12 people," said Brough. “We had a broad spectrum of people and you got to understand how people work or think and how they approach a mission.”
Those who finished the course, earned the 5U (Air Operations Officer) Additional Skill Identifier (ASI).
The Joint Fire Course is controlled and managed by the Air Force, through the Air Combat Command (ACC) and the 6th Combat Training Squadron/Air Ground Operations School.
The Mobile Training Team instructors comprised of three Soldiers, two Airman, and one Marine/Navy cadre package.
With the Air Force being the ones teaching the course from Nellis Air Force Base, most of the information used their terminology and lingo, but with the diverse makeup of branches and specialties that attended, it allowed for everyone involved to see how each one worked.
“When you get deployed you never know what your assignment is going to be and things are going to change along with the mission, So if you are working with members from another branch, already knowing their terminology and knowing what their goal is and how they do their operations is helpful,” said Brough.