Photo By Master Sgt. Jeff Lowry | Indiana National Guard Soldiers with Company D, 151st Infantry Regiment pose with...... read more read more
By 2nd Lt. Jeffrey Gray
Unit Public Affairs Representative
SEYMOUR, Ind. - Soldiers with the Indiana National Guard’s long-range surveillance unit held a redesignation ceremony in January at the unit’s headquarters in Seymour, Ind.
During the ceremony the Soldiers changed the patches on their sleeves, and the unit changed its name.
Instead of being associated with the 219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, the unit will now directly report to the 38th Infantry Division’s headquarters battalion. The unit’s Soldiers will now wear the CY patch as part of the Cyclone Division.
The unit, formerly known as Company C, 2nd Squadron, 152nd Cavalry Regiment, will now be known as Company D, 151st Infantry Regiment.
“Even though our designation has changed over the years, we have always been Company D, 151st Infantry,” said Capt. Adam Barlow, Company D’s current commander. “This unit is a close knit brotherhood that is hard to find anywhere else in the National Guard. We have multiple generations of families who have served as Long Range Patrol Soldiers in this unit and a good number of siblings jumping side by side currently.”
The LRS unit returned to the same unit numeration that held so much honor and lineage in decades past.
“It's quite an honor for our company to again be designated Company D, 151. With the honor comes a great responsibility to live up to the determination and character of the extraordinary men who served in Vietnam with the Indiana Rangers, Company D (Ranger) 151st Infantry,” said Sgt. Granville Carpenter, a unit team leader.
Approximately a dozen of the unit’s veterans attended the ceremony.
The current Soldiers of the unit waited at the front door to the Seymour Armory to see in the men who set the standards, honor and prestige that allowed for the unit to exist today. Those in uniform greeted the veterans as they walked in just as if they were heroes being welcomed home to cheers and handshakes.
“The history that makes up the Long Range Surveillance is what drives our esprit de corps. We are proud of our lineage as a Ranger legacy unit and are even more proud to know the men that served so honorably in the jungles of Vietnam,” said Barlow. “The drop zones that we jump into on Camp Atterbury today are named after some of the finest men that gave their lives in service of our country under our guidon.”
As Company D, 151st Infantry Regiment, the unit has a legacy as a Ranger unit that traces its ties directly back to Company D, 151st Infantry (Ranger) of the Vietnam War. That unit was the only Indiana National Guard unit activated for service in Vietnam, and Company D was expected to live up to the standards set by their counterparts from active-duty Ranger units, which at that time all fell under the 75th Ranger Regiment.
The Indiana’s Company D was the only National Guard Unit that deployed as a complete unit and continued serving as such. At the time, most units that were called up were used to fill the gaps left in other units due to casualties, injuries, end of terms of service, etc. It was during the preparation for Vietnam that the unit gained its Airborne Ranger status in which the Soldiers distinguished not only themselves but also the unit as a whole.
During the time in Vietnam six members of the unit made the ultimate sacrifice on Ranger missions. Other Indiana National Guard Soldiers with the unit were decorated for valor and duty. In all, 19 Silver Stars, 175 Bronze Stars, 86 Army Commendation Medals, 120 Air Medals, 110 Purple Hearts, 19 Indiana Distinguished Service Crosses and 204 Indiana Commendation Medals were awarded.
The unit also provided personnel to support several mobilizations within the state of Indiana to include Afghanistan with the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from 2004 to 2005 and with the 219th BfSB in 2011 to 2012 in Afghanistan with the agricultural team.
Unit Soldiers conducted several joint exercises with the 113th Air Support Operations Squadron, 19th Special Forces Group, 20th Special Forces Group and participated in the Joint Forcible Entry Exercise at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The unit started its lineage as Troop F, 1st Squadron, 238th Cavalry Regiment then Company D, 151st Infantry Regiment later transitioned into Company C, 2nd Squadron, 152nd Cavalry Regiment.
During the unit’s long distinguished history, unit troops have maintained a presence at the Bataan Memorial Death March placing first in the years 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001 and 2015. They have also participated in the Rhode Island National Guard’s Leapfest competition, an International Static Line Parachuting Competition. In 2015 the LRS team placed fifth overall in the International Competition demonstrating the professionalism and dedication to the unit’s craft and skillset.
Though the unit’s designation has changed over the years, the Soldiers of the unit still maintain and expect only the highest standards of professionalism, proficiency and discipline to be found in the U.S. Army. The Guardsmen of the unit continue to pursue maintaining the elite status no matter what the designation they serve under.
| Date Taken: | 01.24.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2016 10:16 |
| Story ID: | 188462 |
| Location: | SEYMOUR, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 2,659 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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