Major Henry Cudney of Sheridan was the guest speaker at Monday’s chamber of commerce luncheon in Lovell. Cudney gave a presentation about the role of the 2-300th HIMARS battalion and the deployment of the battalion, which is scheduled for April.


Of the seven battalions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System in Wyoming, three are located in the Big Horn Basin, Cudney said, with branches in Cody, Lovell and Powell. There will be a total of 14 HIMARS battalions in the U.S., he said.


The job of the 920th Forward Support Company is to provide logistical support to HIMARS rocket systems – ammunition, supplies, food, maintenance supplies and other equipment. The 2-300th battalion will provide support for four HIMARS firing batteries, located in Gillette, Lander and Worland with headquarters in Sheridan.


HIMARS is an advanced truck-mounted missile/rocket delivery system that is designed for quick and accurate strikes, Cudney said.


“They are designed to roll onto a C-130, land at a dirt air strip, off load and shoot missiles within 10 minutes, and then load up and fly away,” Cudney said.


The HIMARS can launch a variety of munitions, depending on the range and target, Cudney said. One of the munitions currently under development is capable of “surgical” accuracy, he said. It can be fired through a window of a building from 70 kilometers away, blowing up everything inside and leaving the neighboring buildings intact.


“There are bad guys that want to see the destruction of the U.S. and there are others nearby who are non-violent. If we blow up the good guys, we’ll make more bad guys,” he said.


“And it’s working,” he added about the rocket delivery system.


The HIMARS came onto the scene in the late 1990s, when the U.S. Marine Corps first used it, Cudney said.
The system receives digital traffic over a radio signal for launch commands, which is much different than the tube style artillery the 2-300th formerly provided support for, he said. HIMARS replaced the tube artillery for the 2-300th in December of 2007, Cudney said.


National Guard troops from the local area spent more than three months training with the HIMARS at Fort Bragg. While working with the 2-300th battalion this summer, Cudney noted the high performance of the company and said they were the only group to properly document all their launches. At Fort Bragg, the 2-300th established the radio-data link three weeks before any other battalion and was the only group to keep the link up over the 93 days of fielding, he said. The first rocket launched by the company was within 25 meters of its target, while 200 meters is considered accurate with the particular rocket, he said.


With about 10 National Guard employees working in Lovell full time, the guard pumps some money into the local economy. Cudney said the relationship goes both ways and said the guard is very appreciative of support from the community.


“We’re very proud of what we do as soldiers, but we couldn’t do it without the support of communities, civic leaders, business owners and families,” he said.


Not only do the soldiers do their job overseas fighting the war on terror, Cudney mentioned that the guard is first in line to provide support to local communities in case of an emergency.


This April, about 900 Wyoming National Guard soldiers will be deployed overseas, he said, the largest deployment of Wyoming National Guard soldiers since World War II. In Wyoming, more than half of the total population of soldiers will remain in the U.S., he said.


The 2-300th battalion will be deployed to different areas in Kuwait, Cudney said, along with battalions from Minnesota, South Dakota and Colorado – a total of 2,300 soldiers.


Other chamber happenings:
•Lovell Inc. Director Sue Taylor told the chamber about the home-based business expo in Lovell Saturday at the Lovell Community Center (see related story).


•North Big Horn Hospital CEO Peter Birkholz announced the public is welcome to attend a free barbeque today (Thursday) from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the New Horizons Care Center to celebrate the completion of the skylights at the center.