2006 WVNG Annual Report PDF - West Virginia Army National Guard

West Virginia National Guard Annual Report 20061 st Battalion, 201 st Field ArtilleryFor the 1st Battalion, 201st Field Artillery, 2006 was a "getting back to basics" yearfollowing a 12-month deployment insupport of Operation Iraqi Freedom.Due to the one-year deployment, Battalionsoldiers had not fired the M109A6Paladin weapon for nearly two years.Soldiers had to reacquaint themselveswith the howitzers; qualify howitzercrews; qualify Fire Direction Centers onthe AFATDS (Advance Field ArtilleryTactical Data System) that processesfire missions to the guns; and trainhowitzer crews on the new M231 andM232 max propellant charges. Battalionstaff created an aggressive training planto get soldiers trained, which allowedthem to complete Field Artillery Table 8platoon live fire exercise during the unit's annual training period.In addition to conducting field artillery tasks, the Battalion's lineage also continued tochange. Detachment 1, Charlie Battery was deactivated and the unit's colors cased;Ronceverte and Hinton armories were closed; and soldiers and equipment were relocated tonew facilities in Lewisburg. Service Battery began the transformation to become a ForwardSupport Company and was redesignated the 1201st Forward Support Company.In keeping with the tradition of supporting the State during times of emergency services,the Battalion deployed 51 soldiers to Louisiana to support Hurricanes Katrina and Rita relief.The Battalion was also assignedthe state's NGRF (NationalGuard Reaction Force). That missioncalls for soldiers to prepare and maintainthe capability to respond to orassist in the protection of state orregional critical infrastructure. InDecember, the Battaliion participatedin Exercise Capitol Shield, a regionaltraining exercise in Washington, D.C.,that simulated a regional disaster inthe National Capital Region.44