Arizona Daily Star December 19, 2007
Arizona's Guard is finished firing shells
By Aaron Mackey
Soldiers in the Arizona Army National Guard apparently have fired their last artillery shell.
Guard officials have shuttered the state's only two field artillery battalions, forcing about 700 soldiers — including dozens from Tucson — into other units and career fields.
The two battalions had operations throughout Arizona, including two batteries in Tucson: the Bravo Battery of the 2-180th Field Artillery Battalion and the Alpha Battery of the 1-180th Field Artillery Battalion. Both of the units were based at the National Guard armory at 5500 E. Valencia Road.
The Bravo battery will be deactivated, while the Alpha battery has been converted into an infantry unit.
The deactivation of the battalions came after Army officials at the Pentagon determined there were too many active-duty, National Guard and reserve units that specialize in field artillery, said Col. James Grayson, deputy chief of staff for operations with the Arizona Guard.
The Army often conducts long-term planning to determine the type of units and force size it will need in the future. Field artillery was the latest casualty of that planning, Grayson said.
While the artillery units will formally de- activate at the beginning of 2008, the units essentially have been shut down for several months, Grayson said.
To compensate for the lost Bravo battery, officials are bringing the 860th Military Police Company from Casa Grande to Tucson. The company should be fully moved by the spring, Grayson said in an e-mail.
The Guard's artillery soldiers in Tucson were given the choice of joining the MP company or going to any other unit in Arizona, said Maj. Paul Aguirre, an Arizona Army National Guard spokesman.
Given the nature of Guard service — members train and conduct other duties mainly during the weekends — soldiers often are attached to units far from where they live, and make the commute when they're needed, Aguirre said.
Across the state, the soldiers affected were given the option of joining other units. Officials also held a job fair for the soldiers earlier this year.
While Guard soldiers who had specialized in artillery no longer have an artillery unit to join in Arizona, it shouldn't be difficult for most of them to transition to other fields, Aguirre said.
Despite the deactivation of the artillery units, the Army Guard in Arizona is actually growing, with roughly 5,400 soldiers serving, Aguirre said.
The Alpha battery's battalion, the 1-180th, traced its roots in Arizona to 1919, when the unit's precursor was organized, according to GlobalSecurity.org, an online research firm dedicated to military affairs.
The unit served in Panama during WWII but is better known in recent years for playing the role of opposition forces during training exercises at Fort Irwin in California.
The battery, which wore the Blackhorse unit patch, resembled simulated enemies, down to wearing different uniforms during training missions, and worked to challenge other artillery units to become better, Globalsecurity.org says.
The Bravo battery has been in Tucson since 1975, though it was deactivated between 1993 and 1995.
Members of the unit wore the unit patch of the Bushmasters, though the unit's ties to the famed WWII unit are largely in name only, Grayson said.
At one time, the unit's battalion fell under the 153rd Field Artillery Brigade, which was associated with the descendants of the 158th Infantry Regiment, Arizona's first volunteer infantry unit, later known as the Bushmasters, Globalsecurity.org says.
The 158th gained fame during WWII when its members trained in Panama to develop jungle-fighting skills, causing Gen. Douglas MacArthur to personally request their presence in the Pacific Theater. The name of the unit comes from the deadly bushmaster snake found in the jungles where the soldiers trained.
The modern descendant of the Bushmasters, the 1-158th Infantry Battalion, is based out of the Phoenix area and is currently deployed to Afghanistan as part of provincial reconstruction teams.
© Copyright 2007, Arizona Daily Star
