115th Field Artillery Brigade

The 115th Field Artillery Brigade, and it's predecessors, have seen action in the War with Spain, the Phillipine Insurrection, World War I, and World War II. Our relationship with the I(US) Corps extends back to 1975, and our habitual training relationship with the 25th Infantry Division (Light) has existed since 1984. The Brigade Headquarters mission is to provide command, control, and administrative supervision of organic and attached Field Artillery units. The Headquarters Battery mission is to supply logistical support and defense to the Brigade Headquarters in support of it's mission.

The 115th Field Artillery Brigade is a US army unit which was first organised in 1888 in the Wyoming National Guard as the 1st Regiment, to consist of Company A (Laramie Grays), organised on the 29th of May 1888 at Laramie, and company B (Cheyenne Guards), organised on the 12th of October 1888 at Cheyenne. In 1890 it was redesignated as the 1st Regiment Infantry. And after many more changes it was redesignated as the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 115th Field Brigade on the 1st of September 1978.

The 115th Field Artillery Brigade, located in Cheyenne, WY, is the command and control element for several field artillery battalions. The brigade is also the peacetime headquarters for the 1st Battalion, 49th Field Artillery and 3rd Battalion, 49th Field Artillery. The brigade has a long history of service, dating back to when Wyoming was a territory. The brigade offers many opportunities for those interested in the automation of war. The brigade is composed of several smaller sections. The brigade's heart and soul is the Tactical Operations Center (TOC). The TOC uses the IFSAS computer system to control artillery fires across the entire battlefield. The brigade has just acquired a survey section. A field artillery survey section does exactly what their civilian counter-parts do: They SURVEY. The meteorological section sends up weather balloons to collect weather data. Accurate knowledge of weather conditions is imperative for the field artillery to obtain pin-point targeting. The communications platoon insures that communications is maintained throughout the battlefield. Believe it or not , they even have a portable fax machine. Yes, it's painted green. For those of you who would rather go 4 wheeling than play on the computer, the communications platoon has the ideal job for you, wireman . The wireman is paid to travel cross-country to lay telephone wire. These four-wheelin' soldiers go over hill, over dale, through the river, and even traverse an occasional ravine. The maintenance section does everything from welding to repairing vehicles. If you like to get you hands dirty, this is the section for you. Food Service Section provides the noon meals for most weekend drills. And if you like heavy fire power, this section has the 50 caliber machine gun.

In 1994 the Wyoming National Guard's 115th Field Artillery Brigade became one of the first brigade-level units to test a new tactical fire direction system. The new initial fire support automated systems instructor is light, mobile and highly accurate, according to Dennis Hopkins. IFAS enables soldiers to quickly scan the battlefield, lock in a target and send the digital message to the fire support team, all within seconds. The new 25-pound, $17,000 486SX computer system replaces a 5-ton, $1 million truck that housed a fire direction center. A nine- to 32-volt battery feeds the computer, compared to a 40-gallon diesel generator that powered the old system, using three gallons of diesel fuel every hour. The system can be transported and set up in the back of a Humvee covered with a GP-small tent. IFAS runs on 32 megabytes of random-access memory and has a removable 200-megabyte hard drive. It links to an 82-key keyboard with an imbedded track ball that moves the screen's cursor and runs the classified software system. The system connects to a secure digital radio that relays information quickly.

In September 1999 the 115th Field Artillery Brigade (FAB) deployed 50 soldiers to Hawaii for two weeks to support the First (US) Corps Warfighter Exercise, "Cascade Peak." In January 2000 the 115th FAB deployed 28 people to Japan as part of the "Yama Sakura Exercise." During the year, the 115th FAB received a TQM-41A Meteorological Station. When it was fielded, it was only the second of its kind in the entire U.S. Army.