Photo By Capt. Jeffrey Dallin Belnap | AL MINHAD AIRBASE, United Arab Emirates – Lt. Col. Paul Gapinski, battalion...... read more read more
By: 1st Lt. Jeffrey D. Belnap
65th Field Artillery Brigade Public Affairs Officer
AL MINHAD AIRBASE, United Arab Emirates – 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery (FA) took command of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) mission supporting the 65th Field Artillery Brigade Aug 23, 2018 in a ceremony at Al Minhad Airbase, United Arab Emirates.
“We are committed to building on your gains, though our high standards and teamwork,” commented Lt. Col. Paul Gapinksi, battalion commander for the 1-121st FA to the Soldiers of the 1-14th FA in a speech during the ceremony. The mission was previously held by the 1-14th Field Artillery for the past nine months. The 1-21st FA, nicknamed “Dark Skies,” originates from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
During the nine months the 1-14th FA had stewardship of the mission they operated out of six countries and supported three operations to include Operation Spartan Shield, Operation Inherent Resolve, and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. The 1-121st FA will now take over those locations and pick up where the 1-14th left off.
“We could not accomplish what we did without our partner nations,” mentioned John Auten III, the 1-14th FA battalion commander. A major piece to the success of the 1-14th FA’s mission was building partnership and trust in the partner countries., a job the 1-121st FA looks forward to as they begin build rewarding relationships, said Gapinski.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Spc. Joshua Williams, a human resources Soldier with the 1-121st FA, explained his excitement and eagerness to support his leadership as they perform the mission. This will be Williams’s first deployment in his four years of military experience. Williams looks forward to exercising his job in a full-time setting compared to the monthly drills that take place back home.
“We trained hard to get to this day you are well prepared for the challenges that lie ahead,” as he addressed his Soldiers, concluded Gapinski.
The 1-121 FA traces its lineage to 1884 when the Wisconsin National Guard Field Artillery was organized with 12 men. The unit is currently based out of Milwaukee Wisconsin. The unit has been federally activated for WWI, WWII, Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006 and 2009, and Operation Enduring Freedom in 2013 and 2014. The “Dark Skies,” motto was coined during combat operations when the enemy would fear the dark skies, as it was a sign field artillery was on its way.
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| Date Taken: | 08.23.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.27.2018 06:04 |
| Story ID: | 290367 |
| Location: | AE |
| Web Views: | 286 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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