Thursday, July 26, 2012

Marine Artillery Battery Unit Sets A Lethal Record

Lance Cpl. Ahmad Garland of Golf Battery, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, holds an M982 Excalibur round at Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in April. Garland and other Golf Battery Marines fired an Excalibur round a record 36 kilometers on Feb. 12, killing a team of Taliban fighters. James J. Lee / Staff

Long Shot: Artillery Battery Sets Lethal Record -- Marine Times

A Marine unit that recently returned from Afghanistan killed a team of Taliban insurgents with a record-setting artillery strike.

Golf Battery, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., dropped the 155mm M982 Excalibur round on insurgents 36 kilometers away — more than 22 miles — in Helmand province. The strike was launched Feb. 12 from an M777 howitzer on a mountainside at Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge, in Kajaki, to neighboring Musa Qala district, Marines said.

It marks the longest operational artillery shot in history for the Marine Corps, said Capt. Joshua Kling, the battery commander.

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My Comment:
It is a shame that my father is no longer alive .... artillery was his specialty in the Second World War, and I know that he would be truly impressed by this story.

1 comment:

Nicholas Darkwater said...

Your father would be impressed. The max range for a 105mm howitzer was 11,000 meters.