Matthew Parenteau, Artillery Gunner
We have two different types of field exercises; live and dry.
During field exercises that are live, it's just like we're in a battle zone. We use real ammunition and we use all the skills that we've learned.
A dry field exercise is when we go out with the guns and no ammunition. We're basically focusing on other aspects of the exercise like communication, observation, and mapping.
When we're in the field it's more than just us and the guns. There is the echelon area, which is where the medics, the kitchen and the toiletry area are; then the actual gun line, where the howitzers would be; and then the Forward Observation Officer in the front. He's the guy calling in the bearings and he's usually based with the infantry guys who are in the front line.
*Note: Bearings are the map coordinates used to aim the gun.