B Co, 1-186th Infantry Battalion Makes a New Home in Salem

Photo By Maj. Wayne Clyne | Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Combat Team (IBCT), Oregon National Guard formation at the unit's re-stationing ceremony Oct. 16, 2022, at the 17th Street Armory in Salem, Ore. The company moved from Medford to Salem, culminating with the re-stationing ceremony, celebrating their arrival at a new home armory. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. W. Chris Clyne, Oregon National Guard Public Affairs)  

SALEM , OR, UNITED STATES

10.23.2022

Story by Maj. Wayne Clyne 

Oregon National Guard Public Affairs Office

B Co, 1-186th Infantry Battalion Makes a New Home in Salem

SALEM, Ore.- Historic Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment, Oregon National Guard moved from Medford to Salem, culminating with a re-stationing ceremony on Oct. 16, 2022, at their new home in the 17th Street Armory. During the ceremony, Company Commander 1st Lt. Nolan Chandler and 1st Sgt. Richard Bradeen uncased the company's guidon symbolizing their arrival to Salem, representing the history, honor, and esprit de corps of Bravo Company,1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT).

Bravo Company has a long history in the Oregon Army National Guard, being part of the 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment, which recently celebrated its 100 anniversary in Ashland, Oregon. Historically, the company has been located in Southern Oregon and has moved several times in the last 20 years.

According to former Bravo Company commander retired Col. Noel Hoback, "The company moved from Medford in 2000 to Klamath Falls." While commanding the company, Hoback said he "deployed the unit to the Sinai Peninsula, making it the first national guard unit to deploy after the 9/11 attacks. The mission is a legacy peacekeeping effort called the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO), located between Israel and Egypt. Since the international community established the MFO mission, the U.S. Army historically assigned elite active duty units for the deployment."

After the Sinai mission, Bravo Company responded to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August 2005; retired Maj. Matt Balkwill deployed Bravo Company to the chaotic aftermath for six weeks. After arriving in Louisiana, Balkwill said, "we provided security in a facility near Lake Pontchartrain close to New Orleans, and after Rita hit, we moved to a POTUS-directed mission of guarding a Conoco Phillips plant that was the only functioning refinery left in the region. Additionally, they sent us to a residential area called Cameron Parish."

After the Katrina deployment, Most of the Bravo Company moved to Coos Bay with one platoon called Detachment One Bravo (Det 1/B Co) in St. Hellens. The company then deployed in 2009 to Iraq with the 41st IBCT in the largest Oregon National Guard deployment since WWII.

Maj. Joshua Rapp commanded the company During the 2009 to 2010 Iraq deployment. He said, "Bravo Company was assigned a convoy security mission. In Iraq, we hung up our rucksacks and drove MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles) instead. Bravo escorted supplies from Camp Adder, the southernmost Army resupply point, to Northern Forward Operation Bases (FOBs). Besides escorting millions of pounds of supplies of mostly, fuel Bravo Company received four Purple Hearts and one Bronze Star with Valor from a complex ambush on a convoy escort mission near Convoy Support Center (CSC) Scania, on MSR (Main Supply Route) Tampa."

Bravo Company remained in Coos Bay through 2014, when the company was attached to Charlie Company under Maj. Vasilios Garyfallou for an Afghanistan deployment. During their time in Afghanistan, the Soldiers of Bravo Company were part of the security for Bagram Air Base and assigned to a secure inner area for special operations called Camp Alpha. Garyfallou said," Besides the base's security responsibility, we provided security for visiting VIPs, escorts for the detention center operations of Bagram Air Base, and security for in-theater personnel recovery operations (both civilian and military). All soldiers valorously fulfilled their duties in protecting their areas of operation over nine months in a hostile environment that received over 70 indirect fire attacks."

Once back from Afghanistan in 2015, Bravo Company moved again to Klamath Falls to a building on Kingsley Field, Air National Guard Base, minus Det 1/B Co platoon-size element moving from St. Hellens to Medford. They stayed there while taking part in a 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment deployment to Djibouti.

For the Djibouti deployment, Bravo personnel split between Alpha and Charlie Companies, with the majority going to Alpha. During the deployment, Alpha was renamed Whisky Company and assigned to a strategic airfield in Somalia. The Commander of the Whisky company for the base security mission was Capt. Brandon Ritchie, who was also a prior Bravo Commander. Ritchie said, "we did a defense in depth for the airbase along with entry control points and towers. In addition, we stood up a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) and some engineering work building defenses and some basic supply stuff, with our efforts keeping the base relatively peaceful and deterring any hostile acts."

Once back from the Africa deployment in 2020, Bravo moved back to Medford, jointly occupying the space with sister unit Alpha Company. Now back home, many Bravo Company members volunteered to help domestically on the Capitol Response mission in 2021 and the Oregon Hospital Support mission in 2021 and 2022 while continuing to train in war-fighting tasks until this move to Salem.

At the re-stationing ceremony, 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Jared Carpenter stated, "This company has a lot of history, and there's a great opportunity to build new relationships here in Salem. We have many vacancies for Soldiers looking to drill here, and we need to fill this formation with high-quality, motivated troops that Bravo Company is known for."

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• Date Taken: 10.23.2022
• Date Posted: 11.02.2022 19:49
• Story ID: 431857
• Location: SALEM , OR, US