FORT CHAFFEE — A battalion of the Arkansas National Guard’s 142nd Field Artillery Brigade has been reduced by 114 members with the deactivation of two companies as part of a Defense Department restructuring program.
About 200 members of the brigade’s 217th Brigade Support Battalion gathered Thursday afternoon in the cool afternoon sun at the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center for a ceremony to retire the flags of A Company, a quartermaster company, and B Company, a maintenance unit, according to a news release from the Arkansas National Guard.
The battalion Headquarters Company also is being re-designated as the Headquarters Support Company.
Support functions reduced as a result of the battalion restructuring were tactical water purification, fuel storage and transportation, wheeled-vehicle maintenance and supply, the release said.
Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Shane Mitchell and battalion Command Sgt. Maj. David Scroggins marked the deactivation of the two companies by furling and encasing the company flags.
In the brief ceremony, members of the two companies who were transferring to different units in the brigade were presented a certificate of service by Mitchell and Scroggins. Calling forward guardsmen by the units to which they were transferring, Mitchell congratulated each with a hug.
The news release said soldiers in the 114 positions being lost were given the opportunity to fill open positions in other units in the brigade.
Some moved to positions in the Arkansas National Guard’s 39th Infantry Brigade, some transferred to units closer to their homes, and some chose to retire or not renew their enlistments, according to the release.
After the ceremony, Scroggins said it was difficult to hand off soldiers to new units.
“It’s like losing members of the family when you transfer them to a new unit,” he said.
The unit deactivation is part of the Army’s reduction in field artillery structure to support the Combat Support Sustainment Brigade restructure initiative, according to the news release.
Across the country, the release said, six active Army and eight Army National Guard field artillery brigades will have their brigade support battalions restructured.
Arkansas’ 217th is one of four National Guard brigades being restructured this year. The other three are in Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. Others are to undergo restructuring next year, according to the release.