LOUISIANA Washington Artillery fires for effect across the globe By Staff Sgt. Noshoba Davis , Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office
PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery Regiment performed several missions around the world over the last fiscal year, Oct. 2021-Oct. 2022. “This battalion continues to answer the call and never fails when it comes,” said Lt. Col. Christopher McElrath, 1-141st FA Regt. command- er. “In 2020, the battalion simultaneously supported COVID oper- ations with the first ever mobile COVID testing site in the country, staffed food banks, conducted pre-mobilization training, responded across the state to support Hurricane Laura relief efforts and then deployed half of the battalion three weeks later.” Nicknamed the Washington Artillery after the first U.S. president, it is the oldest field artillery battalion outside of the original 13 U.S. colonies and has fought in nearly every significant U.S. conflict since the War of 1812. At the beginning of FY 22, the New Orleans-based battalion returned from a deployment where they operated across three countries in the Middle East in support of operations Inherent Resolve and Spartan Shield, where their mission included providing base defense for Al Asad Air Base and the surrounding area.
“Our headquarters and headquarters battery became the first U.S. entity to kinetically engage one-way drones on several occasions, which helped write doctrine on how to defeat an emerging threat with a multi-layer defense,” said McElrath. He said they shot down four drones with three different weapons systems. Additionally, he said the battalion’s C Battery conducted a successful counterfire mission in Syria with their M777 Howitzers after they received more than 65 122mm rockets during one attack. According to the unit’s history report, the last time they shot artillery in combat was in 2004. “It makes me feel proud that we accomplished so much across the Combined Joint Operations Area,” said Maj. Michael Lacoste, 1-141 operations officer. “Shooting the drones down was almost like being in a stadium filled with people who are all catching excitement at the same time.” The Soldiers who remained at home during the deployment stayed busy stateside, where they continued support to COVID operations, sent support to the Southwest border mission and responded to Hurricane Ida. “We have been activated way too many times to name,” said Lacoste. “If the Louisiana National Guard gets called to help during an emer- gency, we will most likely be there.”
During the deployment, the battalion endured multiple rocket and one-way unmanned aircraft system (UAS) drone attacks.
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