Top guns: Exercises prepare Minnesota National Guard unit for elite school

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Brainerd Dispatch

The chirps of songbirds mixed with the sound of heavy metal tank treads Wednesday as the picturesque meadows that form the weapons ranges at Camp Ripley hosted swirling simulated battle…

Staff Sgt. Cale Sparks, Sartell, commands a Bradley Fighting Vehicle crew Wednesday at Camp Ripley. Originally from Aitkin, Sparks worked his way up from being a loader in the vehicle crew to being its commander. (Steve Kohls/Brainerd Dispatch)
Staff Sgt. Flannery Rardin, Brainerd, explains the M1 Abrams tank used by soldiers of the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 194th Armor Regiment, 34th Infantry Division of Minnesota National Guard Wednesday. The soldiers are preparing for a course at an elite U.S. Army school at Fort Irwin, Calif. next year. (Steve Kohls/Brainerd DIspatch)
A column of M1 Abrams tanks moves up the road Wednesday in between armored warfare exercises at the Minnesota Army National Guard base at Camp Ripley. (Steve Kohls/Brainerd Dispatch).
A Bradley Fighting Vehicle advances down a road Wednesday at Camp Ripley. (Steve Kohls/Brainerd Dispatch)
Unlike tanks, the BFVs can shelter and transport a small squad of infantry soldiers inside. (Steve Kohls/Brainerd Dispatch)
Bradley Fighting Vehicles prepare to move out from a range where they had been sighting in their 25 mm autocannons Wednesday, preparing for another round of exercises the next day. (Steve Kohls/Brainerd Dispatch)
A soldier of the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 194th Armor Regiment, 34th Infantry Division takes cover on a small hill with his light machine gun Wednesday during defensive lane exercises at Camp Ripley. (Steve Kohls/Brainerd Dispatch
SFC David Foster, left and Sgt. Mikkayle Camell, both of Bravo Company, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, describe the mock battle they had just taken part in Wednesday during exercises at Camp Ripley (Steve Kohls/Brainerd Dispatch)

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