A v a l a n c h e

C o n t r o l ,

R e s c u e

a n d

E d u c a t i o n

nance, storage,public impact orperception, and govern-
ment regulations.
Lessonslearned fromtherecoilless program couldbe
adapted to howitzers toa certain extent.Due to the size
andweightdifferencesbetweenweaponsystems,new
transportationmethodshadtobedeveloped.Alsothe
howitzercouldnotbemountedontowersdesignedfor
recoilless,sotrailpockets had tobedesigned, builtand
installed at the site.
Unlikerecoilless,howitzersmoveordisplacedwhen
fired.This displacement had to be kept to a minimumto
insureaccurateblind firingdata.After 3 roundswere fired,
trailswere setintothepocket and furtherdisplacement
was not encountered. Using this method, theweaponcould
notbemovedbecauseexact placement wasnot insured
rendering firing data inaccurate.Methods have been de-
veloped so the weapon canbe removed after each mission
retaining accurate blind fire data.

snow pack, long rangefrom fire base to a variety of starting
zones, anglesandaspects, andapositive control over traffic
and public entering the area.
Washington StateNationalGuardprovidedgunnery
training.Our approachto trainingwas, acquire every thing
we could about the howitzer,how it functions,target ac-
quisition methods, sighting methods, and so on, and adapt
it to oursituation.Initially training was very intense try-
ing to absorb an incredibleamount of information.It helps
tohavea background inmathematicstounderstand an-
gles and survey results in order to lay the weapon on tar-
gets that have never been fired on before that lay beyond
the range of the direct sight orovermountains out of site
of gunners.
As procedures werelearned, modification from a 5 per-
son crew to a 2 person crew were adapted, however at no
time did modification to procedures compromised safety
issues.
Evaluations covered several areas, each directly orin-
directly relating to long term reliability of the weapon sys-
tem.Areas of concern:cost, weather condition affecting
weapon and ammunition,locations oftargets,personnel
training, ammunition availability and reliability,mainte-

Target locationandshot placementdoes notpresenta prob-
lem.Howitzers are capable of firing overseveral moun-
tain ridges hitting reverse slops of starting zones.During
high anglefiring flight times for rounds are around 40 sec-
onds,reaching apogee elevations of30,000plusfeetbe-
fore coming back down.
High explosive ammunitionhas beendistributedall over
the world.Current stocks are over 1,000,000 rounds avail-
able foravalanche control.The recommended fuzing for
this round proved unreliable during our evaluation.A dud
rateof30percentwas notuncommonwhiletestingthe
M739 point detonating fuze.Inquires into why it did not
function properly under snow conditions reviled nothing.
AlaskaDOTavalanchecontrolconducted testswiththe
same fuze undersimilarcondition with like results.An
olderM557 wasordered and new tests conducted in the
sameareawith 100%detonationwhileusingthisfuze.
Thisfuzealso happens tobethe samefuze used onthe
high explosive recoilless rifle round with a historical dud
rateof less than1%.Becausehowitzer ammunitionis semi-
fixed type and susceptible to water, care must be taken to
ensure powderbagsare keptdry.Asmallportable"A"
frame enclosure was constructedto assemble ammunition
at the fire base.
The first few years we stored the weapon at a local na-
tionalguardunit nearourcomplex.Thisfacilitydidn't
have covered storage so it had tostayout in the hot sun

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