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The Royal Australian Artillery’s 8th/12th Regiment has made a strong showing of their artillery skills at the Indo-Pacific Best Redleg Competition in Hawaii.
The 8th/12th Regiment took out two categories, including the Cannon FDC and M777, at the international artillery competition held at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii on 20 January this year.
The competition is considered to be the region’s premier artillery event and evaluates physical fitness, core soldier skills and military occupational specialty proficiency to determine the best leaders from across the Pacific.
The competition is hosted by the US 25th Infantry Division Artillery.
“We hope to test our endurance and skills under fatigue … We can take back we have learnt back to Australia, different ways of approaching artillery. We can also hopefully pass on some of our knowledge of artillery,” according to Captain James Butler of the 8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, speaking to US public affairs about the joint fires, forward observer team from Australia.
“(The competition is about) testing our accuracy and speed. The quicker we are, the more accurate we are; the more we can support our infantry and armoured friends. Giving them space through artillery.
“To have healthy competition. It’s always good to see where we stand compared to everyone else. I think it gives you something to train towards.”
Other competition winners included 2-11 LRFB in Radar and Rocket FDC, 3-7 FA in M119 and 1-3 FA in the M142 category.
