{"id":190565,"date":"2024-05-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=190565"},"modified":"2024-05-31T21:20:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T21:20:25","slug":"illinois-army-guard-takes-on-exercise-immediate-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=190565","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Army Guard Takes on Exercise Immediate Response"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. Army Sgt. Eric Vincent, a cannon crewmember with B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Artillery Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, adjusts the targeting data on an M777 155mm howitzer while executing a fire mission during exercise Immediate Response in Ustka, Poland, May 12, 2024. More than 22,000 service members from the United States, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom are participating in the exercise, which includes live-fire exercises, wet gap crossings, and other training to strengthen interoperability. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy)
\n (Photo Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy)<\/span>
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USTKA, Poland \u2013 The seaside location couldn\u2019t have been more idyllic. Gentle rolling sand dunes sloped gracefully to the water as the waves rhythmically lapped the coastline. A meandering breeze occasionally fluttered past, carrying a hint of the sea through the nearby pine trees and beachside scrub brush.<\/p>\n

The beach was quiet. Peaceful. Relaxing, almost. If not for all the artillery fire.<\/p>\n

That came from B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Artillery Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, whose firing position stretched along the sandy shoreline of the Baltic Sea, a few sand dunes or so below their location. The battalion\u2019s other batteries were set up nearby, slightly inland but still along the coast.<\/p>\n

The firing was part of the battalion\u2019s role in providing artillery support during Immediate Response 24, a training exercise in Poland and the Czech Republic running throughout May that included more than 22,000 service members from the United States, Poland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

The battalion, set up in a training area near Ustka, used the exercise to build readiness in two ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that we\u2019re building that\u2019s key here is our continued relationship with Poland,\u201d said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jeremy Miles, the battalion commander. They also built internal battalion readiness by firing artillery qualification tables in an austere environment.<\/p>\n

Building relationships and strengthening interoperability with partner nations was one of the key goals of the exercise. For the unit, doing that in Poland was the easy part.<\/p>\n

The Illinois National Guard and Poland have been paired together in the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program for 30 years \u2013 one of the earliest pairings in the program, which began in 1993.<\/p>\n

The program links National Guard elements with partner nations worldwide for military-to-military exchanges and mutual training events.<\/p>\n

For Miles, who previously served as the officer who coordinated those exchanges between the Polish military and the Illinois Guard, being back in Poland is \u201clike a friendly hug,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of an easy transition to come over here,\u201d said Miles. \u201cWe work well together. And we have for so long, to include multiple years of co-deployments with the Polish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forward observers with the Polish army\u2019s 6th Airborne Brigade have been working with the battalion\u2019s forward observers during the exercise, calling in fire missions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat builds the generational readiness that we\u2019re talking about,\u201d said Miles, adding that exercises like this help junior leaders gain experience, which they can apply as they advance to higher positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing the Polish soldiers and working with them is great,\u201d said Spc. Austin Rodriguez, an artillery crewmember with the battalion\u2019s B Battery.<\/p>\n

The exercise marked Rodriguez\u2019s first time in Poland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part about being here, I would say, is just being here,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my first time in Europe. I haven\u2019t been across the Atlantic before, so it\u2019s a real big treat for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to some, Rodriquez\u2019s gun crew is the best in the Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d put these guys up against any gun crew anywhere in the Army,\u201d said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Terry Rutherford, the gun chief of Rodriguez\u2019s crew. \u201cActive component, Guard, it don\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rutherford may be biased, but he\u2019s also quick to point out what makes them so good.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a solid group,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s not one person that can\u2019t do everything in this gun section right now. If somebody slips, it\u2019s not a big deal. We just pick each other up.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they put rounds downrange. Fast. And accurately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the absolute best,\u201d said Rutherford, who enlisted in 1982. \u201cI\u2019ve done this for a long time. I\u2019ve been a gun chief for about 12 years, and this is the best section I\u2019ve ever been associated with and, in my opinion, best section anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

And taking part in Immediate Response makes them that much better, said Rutherford.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets them shooting in a different environment, in a way and a means that they\u2019ve not done before,\u201d said Rutherford. \u201cAnd you take a gun crew like that, as good as they are, and all it\u2019s going to do is elevate them to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the exercise, the battalion worked with Soldiers of the U.S. Army\u2019s 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery Regiment, which operates the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s one aspect that we don\u2019t get to see very often,\u201d said Miles about working with the HIMARS unit. \u201cWorking internationally, with our international partners, synchronizing our fires, it\u2019s just a whole gamut of opportunities these guys get to experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it required a lot of teamwork and coordination, including moving the battalion and all its equipment across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is lots of equipment, lots of moving parts requiring coordination all the way up to the theater level down to individual batteries,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s just been amazing to watch it come together. There have been hiccups and trials and tribulations, but persistence and perseverance will get you to the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miles credits the Soldiers of the unit for making the mission a success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are so proud of what they do, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder of what they\u2019re doing,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have just crazy-high morale being out here on this mission. It\u2019s really refreshing to watch them operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriquez agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m coming up to the end of my [enlistment] contract,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe this is a real big ticket to probably persuade me to stay in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rutherford said he\u2019s not surprised by any of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the king of battle,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s none better than us.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

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U.S. Army Sgt. Eric Vincent, a cannon crewmember with B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Artillery Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, adjusts the targeting data on an M777 155mm howitzer while executing a fire mission during exercise Immediate Response in Ustka, Poland, May 12, 2024. More than 22,000 service members from the United States, Poland, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190567,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190565"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190568,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190565\/revisions\/190568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/190567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=190565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=190565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}