A few hundred soldiers with the Wyoming Army National Guard will be deploying to the Middle East next week.
The 2nd Battalion, 300th Field Artillery Regiment, based out of Gillette, is heading to Kuwait. They’ll be joining Operation Spartan Shield, with the goal of partner-capacity building with U.S. allies.
The battalion has been anticipating what Capt. Jake Barbender described as a “scheduled rotation” deployment since 2022. While it will be some of the soldiers’ first time deploying, the artillery battery has been called to action before.
“The 300th [Artillery Regiment, this] is the first battalion-wide field artillery deployment since the Korean War. That being said, the unit has deployed pretty frequently, about eight times since the beginning of the global war on terror,” said Brabender. “It's our turn to take the helm.”
Brabender said while the potential for soldiers to encounter combat is always a possibility, it’s not likely for the battalion. Operation Spartan Shield is primarily focused on building partnerships. Troops are often stationed in Persian Gulf states and act as both a deterrence force and work to develop friendly nation’s armed forces.
Additionally, the Regiment will bring mobile rocket launchers, publicly known as HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, as assets under the purview of United States Central Command.
“There'll be some troops in some hostile zones, but the likelihood of direct violence is relatively low,” said Brabender.
The number of troops, specific mission and location of deployment could not be shared for security purposes. However, Brabander said “a few” hundred troops would be leaving home, which means leaving someone behind.
“We're going to be gone for roughly nine to 10 months. Every soldier is leaving somebody behind, whether it's a mom, dad, sister, brother, wife, child in some respect,” said Brabander. “We had a ceremony here at Campbell County High School in Gillette to honor the soldiers and recognize the families for their upcoming sacrifice [that] they're about to make [when] they deploy over.”
The Gillette ceremony saw close to 500 people show up, according to Brabander.
