AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

Army Reserve Soldiers assigned to the 822nd Movement Control Team, Brockton, Massachusetts, stand by in their firing order to engage stationary targets on a blank fire range during the Operation Cold Steel exercise conducted at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, Mar. 22, 2017. Operation Cold Steel is the U.S. Army Reserve’s first large-scale live-fire training and crew-served weapons qualification and validation exercise taking place from March 9 through April 25, 2017. Cold Steel is key to ensuring that America’s Army Reserve units and Soldiers are trained and ready to deploy on short-notice and bring combat-ready and lethal firepower in support of the Total Army and Joint Force partners around the world. In support of the Total Army Force, First Army Master Gunners participated in Cold Steel to provide expertise in crew level gunnery qualifications, and to develop Vehicle Crew Evaluator training, preparing units here and when they return to their home stations to conduct crew served weapons training and vehicle crew gunnery at the unit-level. 475 crews with an estimated 1,600 Army Reserve Soldiers will certify in M2, M19 and M240 Bravo crew served weapons mounted to various military vehicle platforms such as Humvees, Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks, and Heavy Equipment Transport Systems across 12-day rotations (15 crews per cycle) through the seven-week exercise. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Master Sgt. Anthony L. Taylor)