Times Herald (Port Huron, MI) May 03, 2004
National Guard unit reorganizes
Port Huron Armory to remain open; few immediate changes expected
By Bill Shea, Staff
The Michigan Army National Guard's largest formation has informally deactivated its headquarters, more than a year ahead of schedule, a Guard spokeswoman said Sunday.
The 46th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) - nicknamed the Michigan Wolverines - has ceased to be the headquarters for most of the state's Army National Guard formations, including the one in Port Huron, Capt. Dawn Dancer said.
Instead, the units that make up the 1,600-soldier brigade will report temporarily to brigade headquarters in Flint and Taylor.
For "going to war" purposes, most of the state's Army National Guardsmen will remain subordinate to the Guard's 38th Infantry Division in Indiana, but some - including the Port Huron troops - will have a New York divisional headquarters.
The change in headquarters, which is part of a wider Army restructuring, will have little impact on daily operations, Dancer said. The headquarters handles the administrative duties for state and federal Guard missions.
"They are simply gaining a new, higher headquarters," she said.
All troops will remain in their armories, but about 30 from the brigade headquarters in Wyoming, Mich., will be reassigned to other units.
Although the brigade has until Sept. 1, 2005, to complete the headquarters deactivation, the official ceremony will take place Oct. 1. Informally, the headquarters functions have been transferred, Dancer said.
Port Huron's Battery A, which has about 60 troops and remains on military police duty at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is part of the Michigan Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 119th Field Artillery Regiment.
The 1st/119th was part of the 46th Brigade, along with three other battalions. As of Saturday, it became part of the 177th Military Police Brigade in Taylor.
No one at the battery's Dove Street armory could be reached for comment Sunday.
The 119th's "going to war" headquarters will be the 42nd Infantry Division in New York, known as the Rainbow Division. The artillery regiment's soldiers will replace their shoulder insignia with the division's historic rainbow patch, Dancer said.
Dancer said she did not know if the 119th will switch from artillery to military-police duties, which have been in demand for the Iraq war.
"The units still march forward seamlessly," Dancer said. "It'll just be a new person at the head table or giving out the orders."
The headquarters deactivation is part of the Army's plan to re-organize its divisions, including the National Guard, from Cold War-style heavy units to lighter formations more likely to deploy quickly in hot spots such as Iraq, Dancer said.
Part of the plan includes units shedding heavy, outdated equipment such as Battery A's 28-ton self-propelled artillery pieces.
"It's a very interesting situation the Army finds itself in, fighting a war while trying to reorganize itself," said the 46th Brigade's commander, Col. William Ewald.
As part of the reorganization, one of the 46th Brigade's four battalions, the 146th Forward Support Battalion in Bay City, will cease to exist as a unit. Its several-hundred soldiers will be rolled into other units and do different jobs, Dancer said.
One of the battalion's companies is based in Lapeer.
The 46th Brigade's other battalions - the 1st battalions each of the 125th Infantry and the 126th Armored regiments - on Saturday shifted under the headquarters of an unnumbered engineer brigade headquarters in Flint.
The 46th Brigade first was organized Feb. 1, 1968, according to the National Guard Bureau's Historical Services Department.
UNITS
DEFINITIONS
SQUAD: Smallest unit in Army organization, usually nine men led by a staff sergeant. Three or four squads make up platoon.
PLATOON: Usually 40 men led by a lieutenant. Four armored vehicles are a platoon. Three or four platoons make up a company.
COMPANY: About 150 to 220 men led by a captain. An artillery unit this size is a battery of four to eight guns. Basic tactical maneuver element of a battalion, which is made up of five companies.
BATTALION: A tactically and administratively self-sufficient unit of 300 to 1,000 troops led by a lieutenant colonel. Two or more combat battalions make up a brigade.
BRIGADE: Commanded by a colonel. Three combat brigades, each of 1,500 to 5,000 soldiers, make up a division.
DIVISION: A full combat division has its own brigade-size artillery, aviation, engineer, support and service elements. A division is 10,000 to 18,000 troops commanded by a major general. Two or more divisions make up a corps.
Source: Weapon Systems 1999, GlobalSecurity,org., USMilitary.about.com.
© Copyright 2004, Times Herald (Port Huron, MI)
