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Video by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Jordan

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NC Guard Fields New Paladin Artillery

North Carolina National Guard

March 17, 2021 | 1:51

FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA -- North Carolina National Guard Soldiers trained on the new M109A7 Paladin Self Propelled Howitzer System at Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, March 17, 2021.

Experts from Program Manager Self Propelled Howitzers Systems New Equipment Training Team from Tank Automotive and Armament Command (TACOM) showed maintainers of MATES and F Company, 230th Brigade Support Battalion, 1 -113th Field Artillery Regiment, 30th Armored brigade Combat Team the improvements in survivability, mobility and firing upgrades that makes the system more lethal on the modern battlefield.

“It is a lot of combat power,” said Joseph Bethel TACOM Field Maintenance New Equipment training team lead.

The instructors and students met at the huge service section at MATES. It housed four new Paladins and two M992A3 Carrier Ammunition Tracked, a design similar to the Paladin but without the 155mm howitzer and built to carry extra rounds as an ammunition resupply vehicle in combat.

The instruction blended classroom study and testing with hands-on training with one of the newest weapon systems in the Army. The NCNG’s 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team is the first National Guard brigade to receive the M109A7 which was first fielded in 2017.

“We are very proud to be the first National Guard unit to get these,” said Col. Wes Morrison, Commander of the 30th ABCT.