Wisconsin Guard artillery unit ready for Afghanistan mission

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NEWS: Wisconsin Guard artillery unit ready for Afghanistan mission

January 11, 2013
By Vaughn R. Larson
Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs

FORT BLISS, Texas - Revolutionary.

That is how Capt. Matthew Mangerson, commander of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's Battery B, 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery, described the training his unit has received here in preparation for its upcoming fire support mission in Afghanistan.

"I haven't seen every training exercise in the Army, but this is pretty unique," Mangerson said. "It's neat to be a part of it."

To prepare the Plymouth, Wis.-based unit to be the first Army National Guard unit to conduct a field artillery mission in Afghanistan, active duty field artillery brigades from Fort Bliss and Joint Base Lewis-McChord have joined forces with a 1st Army training brigade and two additional National Guard units to develop a dynamic training environment. This environment has also provided training opportunities for the active duty components as well as a chance to innovate.

A recent winter storm blanketed Fort Bliss in up to five inches of snow, which curtailed some aspects of the training schedule. But Bravo leadership worked with field artillery subject matter experts from the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery from Joint Base Lewis-McChord - working from a hotel in nearby El Paso, Texas - to develop a virtual operational theater environment, using available Army online training tools.

"Adversity, which is something we've had a lot of the past several days, builds character," said Battery B 1st Sgt. Steve Czekala. "Adversity separates the wheat from the chaff. It makes you learn to adapt. Everybody knows during a time of war, you need to adapt. It actually became a valuable training tool."

Master Sgt. Adam Wallander, a master gunner and supervisor for the unit's mission liaison section, suggested that the mobilization training was nearly perfect.

"The [5th Battalion, 3rd FA] has supported us immensely and built a program for us that is to the 'T' what we're going to be doing in Afghanistan," Wallander said.

Czekala also praised the physical environment at Fort Bliss.

"The amount of real estate we have is incredible," he said - important when even the reduced range rockets used for training travel several kilometers. The unpredictable desert weather - sandstorms, snowstorms, high winds, rain, 80-degree high temperatures and 20-degree low temperatures - and mountainous backdrop also aided in training.

"There are only so many HIMARS units in the country, but I'll bet there's even a smaller percentage of them that can say they've fired rockets in 70-mph crosswinds," Mangerson said.

Brig. Gen. Mark Anderson, assistant adjutant general for Army and himself a field artillery officer, was pleased with what he saw during a Jan. 6 visit to Fort Bliss.

"The unit's doing a fantastic job," Anderson said. "That's affirmed by our conversations with the active duty subject matter experts that were there to assist during the certification. Everything that the battery is doing indicates to me that the training they conducted back here at home station in preparation for their mobilization was spot on. They are going to do a fantastic job while they are deployed."

Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar, adjutant general of Wisconsin, was not surprised at the high level of motivation Battery B Soldiers displayed.

"Anytime a National Guard unit can deploy and do the mission they train for, the mission they sign up for, they're bound to be motivated," Dunbar said. "The National Guard has demonstrated that they can do any job the Department of Defense asks them to do and do it well, but give them an opportunity to do their core mission and watch them excel."

Czekala said that is already happening.

"We definitely have impressed that upon the active duty component that's here working with us," Czekala said. "They've been floored. When we fired an artillery table a couple of weeks ago, they said it's the best they've ever seen, ever, by a National Guard unit. This is coming from a retired HIMARS commander. That meant a lot."

Czekala said that beyond the unit's technical prowess as artillerymen, the Soldiers bring civilian skill sets to the mission from experiences as carpenters, electricians, engineers, farmers and homeowners.

"What that does is it not only validates our unit, but it validates the National Guard as a whole," Mangerson said, "and shows that ability and that value of what makes the National Guard as special as it is."

Anderson said the favorable impression Battery B has made reflects on the young leadership within the organization.

"When dealt with some difficulty or a complex issue, they were flexible enough and agile enough to come up with an innovative way to continue forward with the mission," Anderson said.

Czekala agreed.

"I know it's the first sergeant's job to beat their chest and toot their horn about the unit, but I am 100 percent convinced we will go out and do great things," he said. "We have all the key personnel in place. We're a very mature battery as far as age is concerned and as far as rank is concerned, which makes my life a lot easier. About 60 percent of the battery have deployed before."

"I know that probably any commander would tell you that when they're getting ready to go to war, but I don't know how to express it more honestly - that's exactly how I feel," Mangerson added. "There's no question in my mind that [our Soldiers are] ready to do what they need to do."

"The HIMARS world definitely knows who Bravo 121 is," Czekala said.

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