Spc. Faith King Makes Field Artillery History for the Ohio Army National Guard

Photo By Spc. Everett Sharp | Spc. Faith King of Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 134th Field Artillery Regiment, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team reviews target zone training with Iraqi Field Artillery in Iraq, May 1, 2023. Spc. King had hands-on involvement at the FDC level during both live fire events in every iteration with the Iraqi Army Soldiers. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Everett Sharp)  

IRAQ

06.07.2023

Story by Spc. Everett Sharp 

37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

Since the inception of war, men have been battling on the front lines. It has only been since January 24, 2013, when Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta removed the military's ban on women serving in combat roles. In 2015, this plan was fully put into action, opening up thousands of combat roles for women in the military to include Infantry, Artillery, and Armor.

One of these women making history within the U.S. military is Spc. Faith King of Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 134th Field Artillery Regiment, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Spc. King, hailing from the town of Piqua, Ohio, joined the Ohio Army National Guard in 2018 as a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Specialist (74A). In 2019, she made the decision to transfer to field artillery, with the position of a Fire Control Specialist (13J).

Field artillery is a combat arms branch predominantly held by men, with only 11 female 13-series Soldiers in the 1-134th Field Artillery Regiment, including Spc. King herself.

On Sept. 26, 2022, Spc. King departed from Ohio with her unit to begin their deployment to the Middle East, in support of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve. With the motto of “One Mission, Many Nations,” CJTF-OIR continues to work by, with and through regional partners to militarily defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in order to enable whole-of-coalition governmental actions to increase regional stability.

While deployed, the 1-134th Field Artillery Regiment initiated their large scale training exercise in partnership with the Iraqi Army, under the name of “Ready Battery.” With a total of four iterations, Task Force Reaper, of the 1-134th Field Artillery Regiment, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, began assisting and training 20 Iraqi Army Soldiers per iteration with the goal of accurately and deliberately defeating Daesh with the use of the M198 and the M119 Howitzer.

During this training operation, Spc. King played a critical role as a section chief, a position traditionally held by senior non-commissioned officers, as well as being the lone female Soldier in the Fire Direction Control (FDC) section in Bravo Battery.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I found out I was going to be teaching the Iraqi Soldiers,” King said. “The way they [Iraqi Soldiers] do things is a little different than us, so it was exciting as a junior enlisted female Soldier to be the one to show them what we do.”

Each iteration consists of two live fire events – one in the beginning and one at the end. Spc. King had hands-on involvement at the FDC level during both live fire events in every iteration, using linguists to communicate with Iraqi Army Soldiers.

“When it came down to it, they were all very receptive,” King said. “They asked lots of questions, and by the end, they applied the knowledge and skills we used when working with them.”

Despite cultural differences, Spc. King’s overwhelming knowledge and professionalism helped bridge the gap between conventional norms, which truly embodied the spirit of the CJTF Coalition efforts.

• Date Taken: 06.07.2023
• Date Posted: 06.11.2023 07:16
• Story ID: 446394
• Location: IQ