History and Heritage of the Wyoming National Guard

Well this is an odd experience. The photos of Team Spirit on this clip are ones I took.

Some Gave All: Wyoming Army National Guard Museum

Wyoming Army National Guard Museum

These photographs illustrate the location of the Wyoming Army National Guard Museum.  As I was taking this photo in an effort to illustrate the older, cavalry related, part of this structure, I failed to get a really good photo of the front of the museum.

The building was built in 1936, during a period of time during which cavalry was actually receiving increased attention in the American military.  The Wyoming National Guard (there was only an Army Guard at the time, as of course there was no Air Force at all, that being part of the Army) was cavalry at the time, being the 115th Cavalry Regiment.Some may wonder about the "AL" below the AD on the corner stone.  The AL is the date used in Masonry for the creation of the earth, and many buildings of this type during this era were dedicated with the participation of Masons.

This shows the front of the building. This structure was used as a National Guard Armory from the 1930s until some time until the 1970s, but I suspect the brick structure was a latter addition.   These small armories became very unsuitable for continued use by the 1960s, and were replaced in quite a few instances during the 1970s to contemplate the need for much larger armories.  Compounding this need was the fact that in some instances, such as in Casper and Cheyenne, the old armories were well within the city limits by the 1960s making their use for military purposes difficult.

M7 105 Gun Motor Carriage. The Wyoming Army National Guard's 300th Armored Field Artillery used these during the Korean War, during which they won a Presidential and a Congressional Unit Citation for an action in which they directly engaged attacking Communist forces.

This is a M59 Armored Personnel Carrier, two of which are on display at this museum.  I'm not aware of any Wyoming Army National Guard unit using these, but some must have as the other items on display here were definitely used by the Wyoming Army National Guard.  Wyoming's units included the 115th Mechanized Cavalry, the descendant of the 115th Cavalry and the 115th Cavalry (Horse Mech), in the 1950s and perhaps onto the 1960s, at which point the cavalry was phased out and the 115th lineage was carried on by the 115th Artillery Regiment.  The former cavalry units became battalions of the 49th Field Artillery along with the 300th AFA.  Today, those units are smaller and are once again the 300th AFA.

This is a USS M777 155mm howitzer, which is a gun still used by the US military.

Holscher's Hub: Team Spirit, 1987

Back in February 2012 I posted some photos of Team Spirit, 1987.  I did this in a slide show format.

Today, I've reposted some (but not all) of those photos here, but back dated them to be posted on the same date.

Holscher's Hub: Team Spirit, 1987:    .

I did this as I didn't really like the slide show format much, and the photos were smaller than I liked.  Also, for anyone interested in the topic, and it'd be darned few, the slide show is, I think, a bit of a deterrent to viewing it.

In Memorium

Flags at half mast, at Casper College, in memory of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew McAdams, 27, killed when an MC-12 reconnaissance aircraft crashed in Afghanistan during a nighttime mission on January 14, 2014.

Some Gave All: Wyoming Veterans Museum, Natrona County Internatio...

Some Gave All: Wyoming Veterans Museum, Natrona County Internatio...: This is the Wyoming Veterans Museum in Natrona County, which is located in the former Enlisted Mens Club of the U.S. Army Air Corps base wh...

A Battery, 2/300th FA BN, Wyoming Army National Guard

 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System missle launchers of the 2-300th FA BN, Wyoming Army National Guard.

National Guard Armory, Yale Oklahoma

M110 8in Howitzer, Casper Wyoming

M110 8in howitzer of the type used by the 3d Bn, 49th FA, WYARNG, back when I was in it. On display at the armory in Casper, Wyoming.

Team Spirit, 1987

 Me, as a Sgt E-5, HHB, 3d Bn, 49th FA.  1987. South Korea.

These are all photographs from the 1987 Team Spirit exercise in South Korea, which I took way back when. The same photos are (were, since I originally posted this Photobucket messed it up) already up in the form of a slide show, but in looking back at them, I found them a bit difficult to really enjoy that way, so today, April 3, 2015, I'm reposting them in this fashion, with a bit more information.

M577 armored vehicles, which at that time were used for Tactical Operations Centers and Fire Direction Control for artillery batteries.

8 in. artillery battery, in field, but not quite formed up for action.

 South Korean kids on the edge of Camp Humphreys.

 Blackhawk at Camp Humphreys.

 M88 recovery vehicle.

 Me in front of M88.

 Column of South Korean M48 Patton tanks.

 M88.

 Graves.

 Camouflaged M577s.

 South Korean M38A1 with recoiless rifle.

 Turkish Soldiers memorial.

 South Korean troops in 6x6 truck.

 South Korean Army band.

 Our tent in an experimental pig farm lot.

 Bus garage in Seoul.

 Graves.

 South Korean M48 Patton tank.

 M109 155 self propelled howitzers.

 South Korean guard post.

 Catholic Church at Camp Humphreys.

Packing up.