Field artillery conference in Green Bay a booming success

By 1st Sgt. Vaughn R. Larson

Wisconsin National Guard

In artillery parlance, a two-day conference of National Guard field artillery leaders - aimed at improving already strong bonds between the active duty Army, reserve components and Training Doctrine Command, or TRADOC, and finding solutions to common artillery challenges - hosted by the Wisconsin Army National Guard recently in Green Bay was right on target.

"We met all of our goals and objectives," said Sgt. 1st Class Chard Heron, an operations noncommissioned officer with 1st Battalion, 426th Field Artillery - a teaching unit at the Wisconsin National Guard's 426th Regional Training Institute at Fort McCoy. "These conferences are a communication tool for everyone in the field artillery community."

Maj. Gen. David Halverson, commander of the U.S. Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, Okla. - in essence, head of the Army field artillery - was on hand to address the nearly 200 artillery Soldiers from National Guard units across the nation at the conference.

"Field artillery in the Guard has been very important," Halverson said. "The tightness we have now is such that nobody knows the difference between active duty, National Guard and Reserves. Our reliance on the National Guard field artillery is going to be greater than ever."

He pointed out that President Harry Truman was a National Guard field artillery officer who served in World War I, and brought that experience to bear in the closing days of World War II.

"Fort Sill grounded him for the most important decisions," Halverson said.

Halverson and Brig. Gen. Thomas Vandal, commandant of the Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, paid a visit to what some in the Wisconsin National Guard like to refer to as "Fort Sill North" - the 426th RTI, which has three National Guard Bureau field artillery subject matter experts and has been certified a center of excellence for artillery instruction.

"Our goal was to meet or exceed Fort Sill standards," Lt. Col. Kerry Morgan, commander of the 1st Battalion, 426th Field Artillery, said during his briefing to Halverson and Vandal. He detailed how the 426th works closely with Fort Sill and that 426th instructors have taught at Fort Sill to underscore what the Wisconsin National Guard facility can provide.

"As they face challenges, they can see us as an additional resource," Morgan explained after the official visit. "We have these phenomenal resources and Soldiers out here available to them."

Col. Richard Borkowski, commander of the 426th RTI, added that it was important to show Halverson and Vandal that active duty artillery Soldiers would receive the same standard of training at the 426th RTI as at Fort Sill.

"They are the movers and innovators in field artillery," Morgan continued. "This is an educational process so they can see another tool in the toolbox."

Brig. Gen. Mark Anderson, commander of the Wisconsin Army National Guard is also the deputy commanding general for the Army National Guard at Fort Sill's Field Artillery Center. His role there is to advise Vandal and the active duty field artillery community about the capabilities of the National Guard field artillery community as well as regional training institutes in Wisconsin and other states.

"This is a great opportunity for Wisconsin to showcase the collective work of the Soldiers assigned here at the 426th RTI," Anderson said, "the capabilities they bring to the field artillery and the U. S. Army."

As Halverson prepared to leave, it appeared that message had been received loud and clear.

"You have all the skill sets here," he said. "I'm very impressed. The question now is how do we integrate?"