Defense News Inside Wisconsin 1/22/2013

New Leadership Takes Charge At Volk Field

Colonel Dave Romuald of Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, has formally become the 10th commander of the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s Volk Field Air Base. He was working as a commercial pilot when Brig. Gen. John McCoy, former assistant adjutant general for Air, contacted him about taking command at Volk Field.

http://1.usa.gov/WRwaIT

Wisconsin Air Guard Under New Authority

Brig. Gen. Gary Ebben, the former commander of Volk Field in Camp Douglas, took over as the state’s assistant adjutant general for air. He replaced Brig. Gen. John McCoy, who had held the post since 2008. McCoy will continue to serve as the chief of staff for air.

http://1.usa.gov/11Ma0iT

Troops Return Home From Afghanistan

Soldiers of the Oshkosh based 1157th Transportation Company are back on U.S. soil after nine months in Afghanistan. The unit completed 128 missions and traveled to 15 different allied outposts during the course of a nine-month deployment that began last April.

http://1.usa.gov/10zxkAb

Dismounted Soldier Training System Helps Prepare Troops

Members of the 181st Infantry Brigade at Fort McCoy trained on the Dismounted Soldier Training System (DSTS) simulation equipment at the installation to help support their mission of preparing units and Soldiers for deployment.

http://bit.ly/V2aJoQ

Wisconsin Guard Artillery Unit Ready For Afghanistan Mission

To prepare the Plymouth based unit to be the first Army National Guard unit to conduct a field artillery mission in Afghanistan, active duty field artillery brigades from Fort Bliss and Joint Base Lewis-McChord have joined forces with a 1st Army training brigade and two additional National Guard units to develop a dynamic training environment.

http://1.usa.gov/10zxs2o

Wisconsin Agribusiness Unit To Deploy To Afghanistan

The Wisconsin National Guard’s 97^th Agribusiness Development Team is in the final stages of its stateside training before deploying to Afghanistan’s Kunar Province to mentor Afghan farmers and government leaders on better agricultural practices.

http://1.usa.gov/WinBra

82^nd ADT Nearing End In Afghanistan

The 13 members of the Wisconsin National Guard’s Agribusiness Development Team left the state in February 2012 along with 35 other Soldiers and Airmen that formed the original ADT. But a slew of mission changes resulted in 35 Guardsmen returning home in September while the remainder stayed in Afghanistan to continue building the agricultural infrastructure of Kunar Province.

http://1.usa.gov/UfajOO