The action was part of a live field firing exercise by Southern Army Reserve soldiers of Bravo Company, 2/4 Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
Bravo Company commanding officer Capt Duncan McEwan, of Dunedin, said it was a chance for soldiers to put their training into action, a big step up from static shooting on the range.
"Live field firing is not like firing on the range ...
"It’s pretty special, and it’s not stuff we get to do that often."
Capt McEwan said the exercise, which started early on Saturday morning and ran until noon yesterday, went well and he was very pleased with the progress of his soldiers. It began with soldiers working in pairs and culminated in a section-level attack on an enemy position as live rounds whizzed through the air and dummy grenades exploded.
"We started in pairs and ran a whole lot of scenarios where they had to manouevre themselves forward while firing and then destroy an enemy pit."
"Once we feel ... the soldiers are ready to progress then we move to fours — two pairs at the same time with a commander behind them.
"Then we add a machine-gun to the group.
"Ultimately, we end up doing section-level live firing, where groups of about 10 soldiers with the full command structure conduct a much larger scale assault on an enemy position."
Held on a high country station near Middlemarch and involving 39 soldiers and one officer, the exercise was the company’s first live firing experience in the field with the army’s new Mars-L (Modular Assault Rifle System — Light) rifle.
Capt McEwan said the weapon compared favourably to the old Steyr rifles, in service since 1987.
"Every weapon system has advantages and disadvantages, but I think the Mars-L is a superior weapon system.
"It’s got a much longer range — you can provide effective fire out to a much greater distance."
Soldiers also fired the Mag 58 machine-gun, the 40mm grenade-launcher (with chalk rounds rather than high-explosives) and dummy grenades.
The exercise’s only blip came on Saturday night, when tracer rounds started a small fire.
The soldiers extinguished the blaze before a volunteer fire crew arrived from Middlemarch, Capt McEwan said.
