Photo By John Hughel | Oregon Army National Guard senior leaders and members of the Official Party (left to...... read more read more
Subscribe
During the past year, Oregon National Guard Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen have trained, mobilized, and responded to significant mission responsibilities, natural disasters around the Pacific Northwest region, and overseas contingency operations.
Oregon Guardsmen routinely conduct training at a variety of ranges around the Pacific Northwest. Soldiers from the Oregon National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team conducted intensive live-fire squad exercises in mid-April at the Orchard Combat Training Center in Idaho, where they honing crucial skills ahead of upcoming overseas deployments. The training involved infantry squads from the 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment as the realistic drills forced squad teams to apply fire discipline and battle drills amid simulated combat conditions.
In June the 1st Squadron, 82nd Cavalry Regiment, conducted Stryker vehicle smoke discharge training at the Biak Training Center near Redmond, marking a significant milestone in their readiness preparations for future missions. This annual training exercise allowed soldiers to deploy smoke grenades from their Stryker armored vehicles for the first time in eight years due to environmental wildland fire concerns.
Yet the highpoint of the training year would take place nearly 2,500 miles away from Oregon at Fort Johnson in Louisiana. Soldiers assigned to the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team took on the demands of the Joint Readiness Training Center with intensive training rotation focusing towards large-scale combat operations while preparing for upcoming peacekeeping deployments.
The 41st IBCT joined up with 4,900 soldiers from 25 states and territories in a grueling two-week exercise designed to simulate the challenges of peer-to-peer warfare. This training aligns with the Army's vision for multi-domain operations and the Army's role in joint operations, emphasizing large scale combat scale operations against the most dangerous form of external pear threats.
The grueling heat and physical conditions allow the soldiers to adapt to complex operational environments while reinforcing to each member the value of sustainment rehearsals found at the JRTC environment.
Not to be outdone by the Army, nearly 90 Airmen from the 173rd Fighter Wing at Klamath Falls, took to the skies at Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, Hawaii for exercise Sentry Luau in March.
Integrating with Hawaii Air National Guard’s 154th Wing, they matched up in “Red Air” and “Blue Air” with their F-22 Raptors. The exercise sharpened the Oregon F-15 crew’s skills while flying with other airframes expanding their capabilities in real world situations and to be prepared to fight against any given aircraft. During Sentry Luau, the F-15s were able to complete more than 100 flying hours and 68 sorties, without any major maintenance issues during the exercise.
For two weeks in April, over 140 Oregon Air National Guardsmen from the 142nd Wing trained and supported the U.S. Air Force’s Weapons Instructor Course at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
The Weapons Instructor Course is the schoolhouse for future weapons officers of the U.S. Air Force. The six month course is attended by Airmen from a variety of backgrounds, from pilots to Intel officers, Air Battle Managers, cyber, and other specializations.
For pilots, the flying training portion of WIC is extremely challenging as it is designed to provide pilots with a level of realism that is unattainable at their home stations given the number and types of aircraft involved in the six-month training course.
As the pilots were training in the skies over Nellis, Maintenance Airmen worked hard to support these operations by launching and recovering aircraft, arming and disarming jets, and maintaining weapons and aircraft.
As valuable as the training against dissimilar aircraft and various exercise locations, the introduction of the new F-15EX Eagle II to the Oregon Air National Guard in July was a game changer.
With the delivery of the new F-15EX models to the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing, a formal ceremony on July 12, highlighted the first time a new weapons system has been introduced to the Air National Guard before being first implemented by the active duty Air Force.
The ceremony held at the Portland Air National Guard Base brought out elected officials, senior military leaders as well as retired members who have maintained the air alert mission in Oregon the past 75 years.
Just as the first new aircraft arrived, Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers throughout the state were preparing to depart for Overseas Contingency Operations.
Over 230 Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery Regiment were mobilized on August 9, during a ceremony held at Pacific University in Forest Grove. Before departing to the Middle East, they first headed to Fort Sill Oklahoma to enhance their proficiencies as air defenders for American and Coalition partners.
The Soldiers will be assigned to Iraq and Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve; to advise, assist, and enable partner forces to secure lasting defeat of terrorist elements across the Central Command Area of Responsibility.
Just a week later, the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team held a mobilization ceremony on August 16 at the Salem Armory Auditorium. This event marked the start of their upcoming deployment with the NATO-led Kosovo Force for a year-long mission.
The Soldiers will be part of KFOR’s 34th rotation, which was first established at the end the Kosovo War. This international peacekeeping force to Kosovo is a crucial mission for maintaining regional security and stability in the Balkans.
As Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers were on the move, Airmen assigned to the 173rd Fighter Wing were formally recognized during a mobilization ceremony held on September 7, at Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Approximately 50 members from nearly every group on base were selected to support vital missions and American interests around the globe.
The following day, Airmen from the 116th Air Control Squadron were recognized in their deployment ceremony held at Camp Rilea as they prepare to deploy with the 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron in support of USCENTCOM. Thirty-six deploying members will be divided across several locations in support of multiple air and space operations, including Operations INHERENT RESOLVE and SPARTAN SHIELD within the Combined Defense of the Arabian Peninsula.
As in years past, our Soldiers and Airmen were activated for a hectic Wildfire season during the late summer months. More than 128 active fires scatted throughout the state that burned over 1.3 million acres in the state.
Under Governor Tina Kotek’s emergency declaration on July 12, coupled with the Oregon Department of Forestry request of the National Guard to help support regional fire suppression efforts, more than 200 Soldiers and Airmen answered the call to state active duty.
For nearly 60-days, the Oregon National Guard worked to support wildland fire crews in multiple capacities across the state as they assisting with medical evacuation capabilities, water buckets or hand crews.
In 2024, the Oregon National Guard Counterdrug Program significantly impacted the fight against illicit drugs by increasing the number of Guardsmen working alongside law enforcement counter-narcotics officers as Criminal Analysts throughout the State and reopening its aviation and Drug Demand Reduction and Outreach programs after a six-year hiatus. With UH-72 Lakota aerial support and community outreach, our service members aided in seizing over 1 million pills, 4,700 pounds of fentanyl, and 2,200 pounds of methamphetamine. The estimated value of these seizures exceeded $3 billion, marking a sevenfold increase from 2023.
2024 was also a year we welcomed our member’s home from overseas missions, and acknowledging the service of our fellow Oregonians who paid the ultimate price for freedom during the Second World War.
A formal demobilization ceremony was held on January 19th at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Salem, for 27 members of Detachment 1, Company Alpha, 1st Battalion – 112th Aviation for their yearlong support to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.
The unit flew a total of 1,825 hours across the area, with a majority of those missions flown at night. They contributed over 1,000 hours of direct community service as they volunteered to assist local food banks, distributed toys during the “Toys for Tots” drive and other activities to show support for the community.
Sixteen Soldiers from Oregon Army National Guard's Adder Company were welcomed home on February 3, after their yearlong deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Spartan Shield. While overseas, as part of Task Force Rattler, Adder Company conducted exercises and worked with partner nation forces in Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in addition to Kuwait.
Governor Tina Kotek and Brig. Gen. Alan Gronewold, hosted a formal demobilization ceremony in Salem, Oregon for the unit members of the Guard’s A (-) 641st Aviation on September 9, after their year-long deployment. They provided fixed-wing air capabilities in support of the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa and AFRICOM from Djibouti and throughout the AFRICOM Theater of operations.
In paying tribute to fallen Oregonian Soldiers during World War II, the Oregon National Guard Honor Guard and State Chaplain Col. Jacob Scott rendered full military honors to U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant George E. Davies was returned home to Portland on June 24 at Willamette National Cemetery. Davies was assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, Ninth Air Force when he was killed during Operation Tidal Wave on August 1, 1943. The Portland native was a crew member flying aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber when it was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire during the daring low altitude raid on Nazi-held oil refineries near Ploiesti, Romania.
The remains of U.S. Army Private William E. Calkins were laid to rest at Fir Lawn Memorial Park in Hillsboro, Oregon on September 13, during a memorial service officiated by the Oregon National Guard, honoring Private Calkins who died in a prisoner of war camp in the Philippines in 1942. He had joined the U.S. Army from Oregon and served in Company B of the 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines, and was later captured in Bataan province by Japanese soldiers, who took him along with several thousand American and Filipino soldiers as prisoners.
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.13.2024 15:02 |
| Story ID: | 487475 |
| Location: | SALEM, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 97 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fortitude and service: Training and mobilizations set the tempo for 2024, by John Hughel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
