Nevada MPs, Colorado FA Regt. head to the Middle East

Photo By Adam Holguin | First Lt. Brock Williamson, operations and fire directions officer, Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, takes a photo of Soldiers walking at the Silas L. Copeland Arrival/Departure Airfield Control Group to the aircraft that will transport them to the Middle East Oct. 4.  

FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

10.13.2016

Story by Adam Holguin 

Mobilization and Deployment, DPTMS Fort Bliss

Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment and the 485th Military Police Company departed the Silas L. Copeland Arrival Departure Airfield Control Group Oct. 4 en route to missions in the U.S. Central Command’s area of operations.

While both units will spend the next nine months throughout CENTCOM, the scope of services provided will differ for the Nevada and Colorado Army National Guard units. The 485th MP Co., based out of Reno, Nevada, will provide customs services in support of Operation Spartan Shield. The 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, Fort Carson, Colorado, will provide firing support in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

“(We will be) checking units that are leaving theater, making sure their equipment is all clear for them to come back to the United States,” said Capt. Maric Goulart, commander, 485th MP Co. “Customs and Border Protection has given the military the ability to pre-clear military equipment, so it expedites the process of Soldiers getting home.”

Many military police assigned to 485th MP Co. will be deploying for the first time, a fact the command team is cognizant of and is prepared to handle.

“We are a young company … We have senior non-commissioned officers in this company that have multiple deployments and have taken care of Soldiers through their whole career … so the younger Soldiers are in good hands with the leadership of this company for their first deployment,” said 1st Sgt. Elbie Doege, first sergeant, 485th MP Co.

For the 485th MP Co. the mission set as customs agents is a departure from their previous deployments in a detainee operations role.

“The attitude of the unit is optimistic, excited,” Goulart said. “They are excited about the mission change and doing something different, so they are looking forward.”

For the Soldiers assigned to Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery Regiment, many in the battery are excited to deploy for an actual artillery mission after previous deployments as security details and infantrymen.

“We are a High Mobility Indirect Rocket System (HIMARS) unit … once we get there our unit is going to spread out through the region and occupy firing points to conduct fire missions in the region,” said 1st Lt. Brock Williamson, operations and fire directions officer, Btry. B, 3rd Bn., 157th FA Regt. “Our task force will split up and move to different locations and won’t be together as a whole unit until demobilization.”
With the unit’s firing teams spread across CENTCOM’s AO, the training for this mission was essential.

“The live-fire exercise was probably the best live-fire I have ever seen us have. Fifty-four rockets in a half-day. We were rocking and rolling,” Williamson said.

Particularly for younger Soldiers, the live-fire exercise and mission readiness exercise were important in building up the skills required during their deployment.

“You know a lot of these guys, as far as training goes, it’s just helpful having the repetitions,” Williamson said. “We usually only shoot once a year … those reps have built their confidence up a lot. They are going to go into country and be able to do their jobs and do it effectively.

After completing a variety of training in their respective home states, here at McGregor Range, New Mexico and on post, alongside the Directorate of Plans Training Mobilization and Security and 5th Armored Brigade, both units are mission-ready.

“I have waited eight years for this kind of deployment, so I am pretty excited to go,” said Staff Sgt. Donald Wilcoxon, section chief, HIMARS launcher, Btry. B, 3rd Bn., 157th FA Regt. “ … now I get to go out there and do the work. I am ready.”

• Date Taken: 10.13.2016
• Date Posted: 10.13.2016 14:48
• Story ID: 211923
• Location: FORT BLISS, TX, US
• Hometown: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US
• Hometown: FORT CARSON, CO, US
• Hometown: RENO, NV, US