Two groups of Red Arrow Soldiers returned to Wisconsin last week after an 11-month deployment - one to Wisconsin's Joint Force Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, Jan. 22, and a smaller group to Dane County Regional Airport Jan. 24.Twenty-seven Soldiers returned with the first group, while four returned with the second. Both were part of the 32nd Military Engagement Team and 32nd Base Defense Operations Center, which deployed to Kuwait and Jordan last February.Waiting to greet them at both locations were flag-waving supporters, family members, senior National Guard leaders and fellow Soldiers and Airmen.
CAMP WILLIAMS, Wis. - In an auditorium inside the headquarters of the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Soldiers, family members and friends gathered Jan. 10 to remember a fallen comrade, husband, father and community leader.Staff Sgt. Todd Olson was a squad leader with Company C, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment when he was wounded by an improvised explosive device during a foot patrol near Samarra, Iraq on Dec. 26, 2004. He died of his injuries the following day at an Army hospital in Tikrit, Iraq - the first Red Arrow Soldier and second Wisconsin National Guard Soldier to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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.
FORT MCCOY, Wis. — Twenty-four Red Arrow Soldiers earned the right to call themselves “Expert Infantrymen” after concluding a grueling multi-day assessment of their infantry skills at Fort McCoy in June.The 24 Soldiers earned the coveted Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) during the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s annual training.Training for the competition began June 7 with more than 190 candidates after the 32nd reported for annual training, and testing concluded June 18. The Soldiers received six days of training on the various tasks required to earn the EIB and then moved into five consecutive days of testing. To earn the EIB, Soldiers must successfully complete 41 specific tasks. Failing more than two disqualifies a candidate. One Soldier was “true blue,” meaning, he completed every task without a single “no-go” in any event.
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.
