Sometimes for Fort Drum, being a quiet, non-disruptive neighbor isn't possible. As we speak, soldiers are training with howitzers. Every shot can be heard from miles away. But as our Brian Dwyer tells us, Fort Drum says it wouldn't be doing the training if it wasn't crucial to the mission.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- "We've been here since Monday, the 11th of March. So basically. There ya go. That's what we're doing here," said Capt. Rodney Bunyan.

A week out on the ranges, deep in the woods of Fort Drum. The Bravo Battery Company from the 1st Brigade, making sure they've got it down. A 105 millimeter howitzer that can zero in on a target some 19 miles away.

"If we are well trained here, we can go down range and support our friendly units or we can support units in Afghanistan, Afghan troops," Bunyan said.

These soldiers are the ones who didn't deploy.

Earlier this year, it was decided the 1st Brigade would only have to send half of its soldiers overseas because the Afghans were taking over. But they know they've got to be ready.

"Anything can happen at a moment's notice where we have to be ready to go and deploy and do what our nation calls us to do," said SSG James Meyer.

If they're not ready, the results can be deadly.

Meyer said, "If we were off by one number, that round could be anywhere at range. It could land on top of our troops."

And the soldiers hope those hearing the noise understand why it's happening.

These things can get so loud, we've had reports of people from Theresa and the Redwood area hearing these shots go off. That's some 15 to 20 miles away.

"At the end of the day, we want to make sure that we're safe. Not just the soldiers here on Fort Drum, but the surrounding communities as well. So if we're training and we're shooting, just know that we're training for them and not for any other reason," Bunyan said.

These soldiers will be out on the range for a few more days.