Air Defense battery trains for emergencies, sets the standards

Photo By Amabilia Payen | Soldiers from Battery A, 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Sill, Okla. fire a Patriot Missile during training at McGregor Range Complex, N. M., as part of the emergency deployment exercise, Dec. 14, 2014. This was a rare opportunity for the Soldiers from 4th Bn., 3rd ADA Regt., 31st ADA Bde., to practice using their weapon systems on a real target. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Nathan Akridge, 31st ADA Bde Public Affairs)  

FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

12.15.2014

Story by Amabilia Payen 

Mobilization and Deployment, DPTMS Fort Bliss

FORT BLISS, Texas – Battery A, 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, conducted an Emergency Deployment Response Exercise at McGregor Range, New Mexico, Dec. 12 through 14, 2014 in order to ensure their Patriot missile launchers met the test and mission requirements.

The 31st ADA Bde. assumed the mission as part of the U.S. Army’s global response force in early November, 2014, and within a month, began executing the training requirements.

“This exercise today, was supposed to be a simple alert and deploy the battery and conduct a live fire,” said Maj. Patrick Lowry, the operations officer, 4th Bn., 3rd ADA Regt., 31st ADA Bde. “We ended up expanding the exercise a little bit more on our end in order to fully exercise our abilities to alert and deploy a full battery in accordance with our contingency mission…so it gave us a chance to test our processes and to actually prove our concept that we can deploy an element of a patriot battalion pretty much anywhere…in seven days.”

That expansion, was to actually validate the battery’s equipment, with the air defenders accomplishing what they were trained to do.

Sgt. Edward Han, squad leader, 4th Bn., 3rd ADA Regt., 31st ADA Bde., is the most experienced when it comes to Patriot launches that involve short periods of time during emergencies.

“I have done this before in Israel,” said Han. “It was a training mission to do a live fire, similar to what we are doing here.”

The Stockton, California, native took his team out to set up the launcher and get it ready to fire. Han claimed it was an honor to be out at McGregor Range, New Mexico, and put a live round down range. The fact is, not many air defense Soldiers get to actually launch the equipment in a live fire exercise because the airspace at Fort Sill is not adequate for a live fire launch. This restricts the Soldiers to do only simulation exercises.

“This is a great training event, especially for our unit,” said Han. “I feel it will go smooth.”

Capt. Jessica Perales, commander 4th Bn., 3rd ADA Regt., 31st ADA Bde., agreed with Han. One of her goals for her battery was to ensure her Soldiers got that opportunity to see their equipment in action.

“I have a lot of new Soldiers,” said Perales. “For them to see their equipment that they maintain and they train on actually fire a missile, well, that gives them confidence in their equipment and that we have the ability to do our mission anywhere in the world. When that missile comes out of that can, I will know we have validated.”

After a few maintenance fixes and attempts at launching, two missiles were fired Dec. 14, 2014. This gave the warm and fuzzy that Perales needed for her unit, confirming that her unit is a “T” for trained at that station, and her unit is fully ready to head out the door within 96 hours.

“I am excited that we got to validate for a possible deployment anywhere in the world,” said Perales. “I am very proud of my unit and I am glad to be a part of this mission.”

Now that Btry A., 4th Bn., 3rd ADA Regt., 31st ADA Bde., proved that the concept can be done successfully, the goal for the battalion is to make it a more routine thing for the remaining units within the 31st ADA Bde.

“Not only was this a chance for us to prove our ability to be a part of the global response force,” said Lowry, “it gave us a chance to actually launch our equipment with live missiles.”

For six months, 4th Bn., 3rd ADA Regt., 31st ADA Bde., will conduct this mission. They have set the standard for the other battalions in 31st ADA Bde., who will inherent the mission on a rotational basis.

• Date Taken: 12.15.2014
• Date Posted: 01.08.2015 14:17
• Story ID: 151542
• Location: FORT BLISS, TX, US
• Hometown: FORT BLISS, TX, US
• Hometown: FORT SILL, OK, US
• Hometown: STOCKTON, CA, US