Charlie Battery returns to life

Photo By Staff Sgt. Anthony Jones | Lt. Col. Jason Henry, commander of the 1st Battalion, 160th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, passes the guidon of the battalion's Charlie Battery to Capt. Sean Mills, of Edmond, Oklahoma, signifying Henry giving command of the battery to Mills during a ceremony at the Armed Forces Reserve Center on Fort Sill, Oklahoma, June 17, marking Charlie Battery's return to duty after nearly a decade of being deactivated. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Anthony Jones)  

FORT SILL, OK, UNITED STATES

06.17.2018

Story by Sgt. Anthony Jones 

45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

FORT SILL, Okla. - For the first time in nearly decade, the 1st Battalion, 160th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has a Charlie Battery, and this Charlie Battery will be bringing the big guns back to the Thunderbirds.

“Charlie Battery, welcome home. Welcome back,” said Lt. Col. Jason Henry, the commander of 1st Bn., 160th FA Regt. after he uncased the battery’s distinctive scarlet and yellow guidon in front of Soldiers assigned to the new Charlie Battery and veterans of past batteries.

“You Soldiers here today are standing in the place where hundreds of Soldiers have stood before you. Charlie Battery fought in places like Italy, France, Korea and, of course, Iraq,” Henry said. “As you are doing your job, make sure those Soldiers of the past are proud.”

Charlie Battery’s history can be traced back to 1920 with the formation of the battalion, and its cannons first saw combat in World War II and again in Korea.

In 2003, the Battery was mobilized and deployed in support of Operation Noble Eagle III and deployed to Iraq in 2007, before being deactivated in September 2008 after more than 80 years of service to Oklahoma and the United States.

The newly activated Charlie Battery will be firing M777 howitzers – a 155mm cannon, which will increase the 45th IBCT’s ability to engage enemy forces at greater distances with larger rounds.

“You’re starting a new battery from scratch,” the battalion commander told the troops. “You are getting new equipment and new guns. These guns bring a new capability for the Brigade.”

The M777 has a range of 15 miles for non-precision guided munitions and a max range of 25 miles when firing the Excalibur precision-guided round, more than 12 miles farther than what the battalion’s current M119 105mm howitzers can fire when using rocket-assisted rounds.

“We bring more firepower. We can reach out farther. We can do a lot more for the brigade commander to shape the battlefield,” Henry said.

Capt. Sean Mills, Charlie Battery’s new commander and a resident of Edmond, Oklahoma, said he was thankful for the leaders who helped shape his career and for having the faith in him to be the first commander for the newly revived battery.

“I am hopeful that I will be able to have a lasting impact on the lives of the Soldiers of Charlie Battery,” Mills said. “I hope that for as long as I have this command, I am able to give the Oklahoma Guard, the 45th and the 160th back what it has given me.”

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• Date Taken: 06.17.2018
• Date Posted: 06.18.2018 16:20
• Story ID: 281280
• Location: FORT SILL, OK, US
• Hometown: EDMOND, OK, US