National Guard Unit Trains In Mississippi -

(Above) Battery A ,113th Field Artillery Paladin Howitzer moves into its firing point during annual training at Camp Shelby Miss. Battery A Guardsmen are based in Lincolnton and Statesville . (Below) Company C, 252 Combined Arms Battalion Tank Commander SSG Edward Strickland and his new Abrahams Tank on the gunnery range. Company C is based in Southern Pines. NG photos by Staff Sgt. Al Hunt and SPC Steve Chadduck, 30th HBCT PAO)Smithfield

The 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team is winding down three weeks of annual training at the Joint Forces Readiness Center where gunnery training was a key focus. The training provided an opportunity to test the 30th’s capability to mobilize its soldiers, deploy high mobility vehicles, and exercise its command and control elements. All these skills play a unique roll for Guardsmen since they are needed to respond to natural or manmade disasters and remain ready for federal service. The 780 mile convoy moved hundreds of vehicles, equipment and personnel to southeast Mississippi. Camp Shelby was chosen last year due to the wide variety of gunnery ranges to accommodate the 30th’s M1 Abrahams Tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, and Paladin Howitzers. Although the 30th was the first National Guard Brigade Combat Team to deploy to Iraq , it has not been alerted for any future mobilization. Since their return from Iraq in early 2005, the 30th has been undergoing a massive transformation to the new “modular” formation dictated by the Army. This will make the 30th identical to Heavy Brigade Combat Teams in the active duty. This formation has realigned equipment, personnel and many different military occupational specialties. The 30th HBCT consists of about 3300 soldiers and about seventy percent are veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Forty-five of the solider who trained in Mississippi are based out of the National Guard Armory in Smithfield. The 30th includes combat and support units based throughout 42 other communities in North Carolina.