Times Herald (Port Huron, MI) October 19, 2002
State troops could become infantry
By BILL SHEA
Michigan National Guardsmen could trade tanks for rifles under a new restructuring plan.
The Pentagon wants to streamline and modernize the Army National Guard by shedding obsolete equipment, and insiders believe the plan would turn Michigan's troops into infantrymen with an increased chance of being deployed to future combat zones like Iraq, Bosnia or Kosovo.
Pending congressional approval, the Army National Guard Restructuring Initiative would begin in 2008 and should be completed by 2012, according to Army plans unveiled last month.
The creation of "mobile light brigades" would follow the elimination in 2005 of Michigan's 46th Infantry Brigade, parent of most of the state's Guard units, including Port Huron's Battery A. The brigade's units would be dispersed into brigades from Ohio and Vermont. Brigades are made up of 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers. The commander of the National Guard, Lt. Gen. Roger Schultz, hasn't officially picked which units will undergo the equipment restructuring, and the plan isn't expected to be complete until later this year.
However, Col. James Barrineau, the chief of the Force Management Division of the National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon, said, "It's a fairly safe assumption" the Guard's Indianapolis-based 38th Division, which includes the Michigan and Ohio brigades, and the 42nd Division from New York will be targeted for the transformation.
The brigade's units would give up heavy equipment, including Cold War-era tanks, armored personnel carriers and the self-propelled artillery pieces used by Port Huron's battery. In their place, Battery A could be equipped with artillery towed by trucks.
The current guns are stored at Camp Grayling, while the battery's soldiers muster out of the Dove Street armory.
The Ohio and Vermont brigades commanding Michigan units would be equipped with faster, lighter and cheaper-to- maintain vehicles like Hummers and trucks, according to the Pentagon plan.
What the brigade would surrender in firepower would be made up for in speed on the battlefield and ability to deploy more quickly to overseas hot spots or domestic sites for homeland defense, Barrineau said. He said it is "absolutely" certain that if Michigan's troops are part of a mobile light brigade, they will be more likely to deploy overseas.
'Adapt, overcome'
Word of the restructure has filtered down to the local level.
Sgt. 1st Class Tom Moutoux, 40, of Port Huron has been with the National Guard and Army since 1980. He's been with the local Guard unit since 1984 - when it was a light infantry company - and now is in charge of maintenance for the artillery battery.
"I've been through this. As a soldier, you adapt, overcome," he said.
While Moutoux, a Port Huron Molding employee, and others are excited, they acknowledge any switch could hurt retention within the unit.
"The first reaction is, you don't like change," he said.
Staff Sgt. Ralph Mayhew, a 19-year veteran of the Port Huron unit, agreed.
"The unit as a whole will survive it," said Mayhew, 43, of Capac. He works for Lear Corp. in Port Huron.
The local battery is one of four that make up the state's 1st Battalion, 119th Field Artillery Regt.
Battery A can trace its roots back to before the Civil War. In its lifetime, the Port Huron unit has been both artillery and infantry.
The big picture
Under the mobile light brigade concept, the National Guard nationwide would eliminate about 2,400 obsolete tracked vehicles, or about a third of its strength. Port Huron's Battery A could lose its six 155-mm M-109 self-propelled artillery pieces, which each weigh nearly 28 tons and date from the 1980s. The guns are basically cannons mounted on a tracked chassis similar to a tank.
"We're talking about the Guard turning in tanks. I'm not worried about it. The tanks we're turning in wouldn't go to war anyway," National Guard director Schultz said in a statement released by the Army.
Battery A could be re-equipped with towed 155-mm guns, which are pulled by 5-ton trucks. The towed guns would likely be new and are lighter and easier to maintain than self-propelled guns.
"It's very difficult to sustain them in a (combat zone) because of the older equipment," Barrineau said.
Also significantly affected in Michigan would be the 46th Brigade's 1st Battalion of the 126th Armored Regt., which has tank companies in South Haven, Manistee, Cadillac and Augusta. If the reorganization is approved, those companies would lose their M-1 Abrams tanks and M-113 armored personnel carriers.
In their place would be Hummers and 2 1/2-ton trucks bought by the federal government. Vehicle crews would be retrained as infantrymen.
The Michigan Army National Guard declined to speculate on any changes until the Army makes its plans official.
The restructuring plan was announced Sept. 8 by Army Secretary Thomas White during a speech to National Guard leaders assembled in Long Beach, Calif.
"The restructuring of Guard units prepares us for the full range of missions, from our homeland to duty world-wide," White said in a statement released by the Army.
The National Guard falls under control of state governors, but reverts to federal service for national defense. The Department of Defense would pay for new equipment, but the Pentagon has yet to put a price tag on the project.
The National Guard initiative is separate but parallels an Army overhaul that calls for six regular brigades and a Pennsylvania National Guard brigade to be transformed into Interim Brigade Combat teams that use the new Stryker armored combat vehicle.
There are no plans to equip any of the Michigan or Ohio National Guard units with the 8-wheeled Stryker.
THE UNITS
46TH INFANTRY BRIGADE
Here is a breakdown of the "Michigan Wolverines'" individual formations and where they are stationed. The brigade headquarters are in Wyoming, Mich. The brigade is part of the Indiana-based 38th Infantry Division.
1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regt.: Headquarters in Flint. Companies based in Detroit, Saginaw, Cheboygan, Alpena, Wyoming, Big Rapids. An infantry unit equipped with Humvees.
1st Battalion, 126th Armor Regt.: Companies based in South Haven, Manistee, Cadillac and Augusta. Other troops are in Wyoming and Three Rivers. Units are equipped with aging M-1 Abrams tanks and M-113 personnel carriers.
1st Battalion, 119th Field Artillery Regt.: Batteries based in Port Huron, Alma, Charlotte and Augusta. Units are equipped with 155-mm M-109 self-propelled howitzers from the 1980s.
146th Forward Support Battalion: Companies based in Lapeer, Sturgis, Augusta and Detroit. Additional troops based in Bay City.
Source: GlobalSecurity.org, Michigan National Guard.
Copyright 2002 Times Herald (Port Huron, MI)
