Lawton Constitution:
Well-wishers said farewell to more than 460 soldiers of 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery (ADA) at a deployment ceremony Wednesday as they head off on a yearlong deployment to Kuwait.
Their spouses, meanwhile, will be the first to take advantage of a new program to keep them active and involved while their soldiers are gone.
The battalion’s command team, Lt. Col. Todd Schmidt and Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Bunch, cased the colors, which will be uncased upon their arrival in Kuwait. There 4-3 ADA will provide air and missile defense operations in support of the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
Col. Kevin F. Ciocca, commander of the 31st ADA Brigade, acknowledged the tremendous support his brigade and the “I Strike” Battalion have received from the leaders, soldiers and civilians of the countless Fort Sill units and agencies that helped to prepare the battalion for deployment.
“This deployment comes at the end of a long and tough train-up and certification that began nearly 12 months ago with new equipment upgrades, individual and crew certifications and no-notice deployment readiness and live fire exercises,” Ciocca said.
During that time the battalion spent six months as the Army’s Patriot Global Response Force Battalion, ready for action anywhere in the world on only seven days’ notice, Ciocca said. That requirement included not only extensive training here but also mission planning and rehearsals in both Korea and Israel.
The battalion also conducted a Patriot missile live fire exercise at Fort Bliss, Texas, Schmidt said after the ceremony.
Those preparations marked only the beginning of a long journey. When deployed, the soldiers will assure coalition allies and deter missile attacks by those who would do harm. Should that fail, they will save lives and preserve coalition combat power by employing their Patriot missile systems to defeat enemy ballistic missile attacks.
“While the Patriot system is a technological marvel, these systems that these soldiers have mastered are truly amazing. While they’re truly amazing, in the end it still takes soldiers to bring it all together,” the brigade commander said.
A torch party left for Kuwait earlier this week to set the conditions for the arrival of the main body of the battalion. It’s called a torch party because it lights the way for the others, explained Schmidt, the battalion commander. All the equipment, to include four firing battery sets, was sent forward with the advance party…
