Minnesota artillery unit prepares to return to Iowa
On Sunday August 25, 2024, the Alexandria-based Charlie Battery, of the 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery Regiment, held a unit flag casing ceremony in preparation for transferring from the Minnesota National Guard back to the Iowa National Guard. During the ceremony, which took place at the Alexandria armory, the unit’s flag, or “colors” were cased, symbolizing the preparation to transport them to their new post.
Casing ceremonies are generally held when an element is preparing to relocate, whether through a deployment, or in this case, divestiture.
Charlie Battery is a six-gun element that uses the M777A2 towed 155mm howitzer with about 115 Soldiers at full capacity. The battery natively falls under the Iowa-based 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery Regiment, a part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, of the 34th Infantry Division.
The movement back to Iowa will be permanent, said Army 1st Sgt. Dude Myhre, the first sergeant for Charlie Battery.
“Charlie Battery, 1-194 is standing up in Iowa permanently in Camp Dodge,” Myhre said.
While the unit will no longer exist in Minnesota, Soldiers from Charlie Battery are being retained in the Minnesota National Guard, Myhre said.
“The majority of Soldiers are staying within the field artillery community,” he said, referring to Minnesota’s 1st Battalion, 151st Field Artillery Regiment and the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery Regiment. “Some Soldiers are choosing to change their careers and reclassifying to a different military occupational specialty to either stay closer to home or try a different career.”
Myhre, who has been with the unit since 2019 and deployed with them to Afghanistan in 2020-2021, is looking forward to the transition as the first sergeant for the unit in Iowa, and to learning more about their Soldiers and their mission set.
“It has been my honor and privilege to serve Charlie Battery, 1-194 Field Artillery in Alexandria since 2019,” he said. “I have been privileged to serve two battalions, the 1-194 FA in Iowa and the 1-151 FA in Minnesota, and gained so much knowledge and experience to further my career for the next unit I am assigned to.”
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Sirrina Martinez
Minnesota National Guard
