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Wright visits 623rd battalion Colonel (Retired) B.G. Wright, former commander of the 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery, visited the battalion at Ft. Dix, New Jersey on December 14. Colonel Wright is now a professional staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations at the Nationıs Capitol in Washington, DC. He was accompanied by Brigadier General Frank Grass, Deputy Director of the Army National Guard of the United States, and by Captain John Bates, also a native of Monticello, and former commander of Battery B in Campbellsville. The official visit was to observe the Guardıs pre-deployment training. The 623rd, a Multiple Launch Rocket System Unit, will deploy in January in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They will be part of a group of some 400 soldiers from Monticello, Campbellsville, Glasgow, Springfield, and Tompkinsville, who will be providing convoy escort and securing areas of operation within Iraq. Ninety-four soldiers are from the Monticello unit. The 623rd was originally called up in March 2003, for three months, and had planned to be called to action soon thereafter. The original deployment order was cancelled. Now the battalion has been called to action again. The units are undergoing security force training in which soldiers are placed in real-life scenarios, or battle drills ranging from hostage situations and ambush attacks on convoys to evacuating wounded and other casualties by helicopter. The training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey is scheduled to complete in January 2005. Guardsmen will be home for the Christmas holidays and then will deploy overseas the first part of next year. The 623rdıs deployment is part of an ongoing nation-wide mobilization of Army and Air National Guard units supporting global conflicts. Currently, Kentucky Army and Air National Guard soldiers and airmen are mobilized in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle, or are participating in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. The visit by Colonel Wright and General Grass was to verify for Congress, and for the Army National Guard leadership, that the training techniques and conditions will fully prepare the units for challenges they may face in combat. Soldiers will receive an additional familiarization in Kuwait, and overlapping field Time with the unit which they will replace. Colonel Wright is a Monticello native and the son of Gene and Betty Wright. He originally enlisted in Monticelloıs C Battery as a private in 1978, assumed command of C Battery in 1984, deployed with the 623rd to Desert Shield/Desert Storm from 1990-1991, and was the battalionıs commander from 1997 to 1999. Captain Bates, also a Monticello native, is the son of Louie Bates and Patsy Rice Bates, and the grandson of Reba Bates and the late Clarence Bates, former superintendent of Wayne County Schools, and Mrs. Lela Rice and the late Grant Rice of Monticello. John is currently assigned as an aide to Major General Pudlowski, the Special Assistant to the Director of the Army National Guard in Washington, DC. Reader Comments Heather (1/26/2005) My fiance' is in the Guard unit down here in Monticello and I hope that everyone is praying for all those brave men that are out there fighting for all of us, for our freedom.I pray every night that Him and all the other guys will return home safely the first part of next year. May god bless all of them and be w/ them. Add a comment |
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