A new field maintenance facility for Wisconsin Army National Guard vehicles and equipment is officially open for business after an open house Aug. 13 in Wausau, Wisconsin.Known as FMS (Field Maintenance Shop) 13, the nearly 33,000 square-foot building located at 2631 N. 14th Ave. is Silver LEED certified and replaces the former facility at 833 S. 17th Ave.
A year after the Wisconsin Army National Guard announced a major reorganization of its units and armories, one of the units most affected by the changes has transformed into a brand new engineer battalion.The 173rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, headquartered in Wausau, Wisconsin, replaced the former 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, which no longer exists in name. Like the 32nd BSTB before it, the 173rd BEB is an element of the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin.
For the second consecutive year, the Wisconsin Army National Guard's field cuisine reigns supreme.The 132nd Brigade Support Battalion's food service section, based in Portage, Wisconsin, was named the Army National Guard's best food service section in the 2014 Phillip A. Connelly Awards Program. Sgt. 1st Class Jassen Hinchley, senior food operations sergeant, and Staff Sgt. Aleksandr Simonov, food operations manager and first-line cook, accepted the first-place award May 15 at the National Restaurant Association's Armed Forces Food Service Banquet in Chicago.
The Wisconsin National Guard recently hosted officials from Europe, Asia, South America and the Vatican as part of the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program, administered through its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.The program aims to provide a deeper and more detailed understanding of the U.S. foreign policy-making process, examine how U.S. foreign policy intersects with its national security interests, study domestic issues which influence U.S. foreign policy decisions, and examine the range of perspectives public and private sector policy stakeholders bring to the foreign policy debate.
The Wisconsin Army National Guard is piloting a program along with 19 other states to bolster the resiliency of Army National Guard teens and build positive methods of coping with stress.Part of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Family Fitness Program that trains Soldiers and their spouses on skills to cope with stresses, the pilot program has a curriculum tailored to the teen population and teaches teens life skills — skills that adults have because of their many life experiences — such as being self aware, critical thinking, and building stronger relationships.
More than 270 senior leaders from the Air National Guard converged at the Wisconsin Air National Guard's Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin, for the annual Executive Safety Summit May 5-6.Adjutants general, wing commanders and senior enlisted leaders from around the country came together to discuss key safety topics and share best practices during the two-day summit.Attendees heard from Jeff Skiles, a Wisconsin native and co-pilot on U.S. Airways Flight 1549, which Skiles and pilot Chesley Sullenberger navigated to a safe crash landing on the Hudson River in January 2009 after bird strikes caused engine failure.
Approximately 30 Wisconsin Army National Guard Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment will deploy to Kuwait this spring as part of Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Spartan Shield.The unit, based in West Bend, Wisconsin, will deploy Soldiers from Companies C, D and E of the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation for the mission where they will provide helicopter medevac assets and maintenance support to American personnel operating in the region. The battalion is made up of National Guard aviation units spread across Colorado, Nebraska and Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Soldiers will deploy as part of a larger aviation task force being sent to the region.
Wisconsin is once again counted among the top Army National Guard organizations with its Gold Division First Place finish in the 2015 Army Communities of Excellence (ACOE) program.Wisconsin finished runner-up to the Ohio Army National Guard, which was named the overall winner in the 2015 judging. This year, 41 Army National Guard states and five U.S. Army Reserve commands participated in the ACOE program."This recognition is a reflection of the tremendous effort on the part of many Soldiers in the Wisconsin Army National Guard who continue building readiness and improving our processes across all the functions necessary to make us one of the best Army National Guard's in the nation," said Brig. Gen. Mark Anderson, deputy adjutant general for Army and the Wisconsin Army National Guard's top officer. "Our participation has been a conscious effort on our part to continue to promote efficiencies, improve our readiness and take better care of our Soldiers and accomplish our mission."
FORT MCCOY, Wis. – Wisconsin Army National Guard Soldiers from Detachment 1, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry honed advanced marksmanship tactics with Special Forces Soldiers here April 10 –11.The detachment worked with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) of the Illinois Army National Guard, to jointly conduct advanced marksmanship tactics training. The training included advanced maneuvering with M4 rifles, urban assault movements and advanced room-clearing procedures.
It wasn't quite the movie Wizard of Oz, but there was still a small dog, talk of tornadoes and a puff of smoke last Friday at Miller Park, as 11,000 students and teachers from southeastern Wisconsin attended Weather Day.Weather Day provides students an opportunity to learn about seasons, precipitation, climates and storms in a fun environment. Participants are divided into two teams, and questions were asked on the jumbo screen, along with videos and demonstrations on the field. The event was sponsored by the Milwaukee Brewers and WTMJ-TV, whose meteorologists were the hosts.
