FORT MCCOY, Wis. - Once upon a time, more than 1,500 Wisconsin Army National Guard Soldiers manned 54 155-mm self-propelled howitzers in three field artillery battalions - the 120th, 121st and 126th.By 2006, the 120th had converted to the smaller M119 105-mm howitzer, the 121st had converted to the Multiple Launch Rocket System and would shortly transition to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), and the 126th turned in its field artillery mission to become the 257th Brigade Support Battalion. Outside of the 426th Regional Training Institute, Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers had not fired the large cannon in nearly a decade.
VOLK FIELD, Wis. - Members of the Polish Air Force visited the 128th Air Control Squadron June 6-17 as a part of the State Partnership Program.The four service members spent their time observing large force exercises during the Northern Lightning exercise."They had a chance to interact and observe how our tactics, techniques and procedures are implemented," said Capt. John McKenna, 128th Air Control Squadron assistant operations director. "By working together, we were able to collaborate our best practices and disciplines on tasks such as radio communication procedures, threat recognition and crew resource management."
FORT MCCOY, Wis. - With broken ribs, a punctured lung and the loss of his spleen, Spc. Charles Kaufman could have opted out of his unit's deployment to Iraq in 2005.But the Fairchild, Wisconsin resident who joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard's Company C, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry with his cousin Kelly was not going to stay home. A month after falling out of a tree stand, he joined his unit in Iraq.
Strong alliances are built on personal relationships, and the alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom perhaps grew a bit stronger after an exchange program partnered officers from both countries together for two weeks in Wisconsin.Capt. Orrin Viner, with the Wisconsin Army National Guard's Madison-based Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry, hosted Lieutenant Nick Mellis, a British officer with the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry as part of the Military Reserve Exchange Program, June 6-19.
