MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. -- After being in Iraq for the first months of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Marines of Fox Battery, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, stationed at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., tested 19, M198 Howitzers at the Prospect Range Aug. 27, that were rebuilt by Maintenance Center Barstow's Cost Work Center 729 at the Prospect Range.The battery was attached to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and fired the first combat artillery round in Operation Iraqi Freedom, said Lance Cpl. Matthew Mulvane, a Milan, Ohio native who works as a gunner for one of the battery's crews.CWC 729 is responsible for rebuilding, test firing and road testing the howitzers that come into its shop, said Doug Van Dyke, the supervisor for CWC 729. The M198s have a caliber of 155 millimeters, and are towed pieces of artillery, which are used by Marine Air Ground Task Forces for direct and indirect artillery support. CWC 729 is also in the process of restoring World War II era M101 Howitzer Cannons, which are 105 mm and are to be sold and used for Avalanche control, Van Dyke said.Just like M16A2 Service Rifles, the M198s have different types of rounds that can be used to accomplish different jobs, said Mulvane. Such rounds include rocket-assisted rounds, which can reach a distance of 18 miles and have a kill radius of 50 meters. Another round is capable of ejecting mines to the ground, which will not detonate until set off by the enemy, said Mulvane.The most appreciated round in OIF was a round, which dispelled grenades, known as bouncing betties, said Mulvane. The ground troops told the battery that those rounds did the most damage to insurgents when they were used.Van Dyke said that even though CWC 729 is responsible for getting the M198s out to the troops in superior working order, it is the Marines of the artillery batteries who do all of the real work.