HISTORY OF 147TH FA BATTALION

By

Cpt Anson Yeager

Lt Col Orvel B Swenson, Sioux Falls, SD

Reorganization of the South Dakota National Guard after World War II brought about the activation of the 147th Field Artillery Battalion in the southeastern corner of the state as successor to the state's 147th Regiment which served from Australia to the Philippines in World War II.

Post war planing for the National Guard in South Dakota envisioned a tactically complete unit. This resulted in organization of the 196th Infantry Regiment, and its supporting artillery, 147th FA Bn, to give the state a combat team. This planning also involved location of units within a battalion in one locality, if possible. Thus, Headquarters and Btry A were located in Sioux Falls, S. D., Flandreau had Btry B, Canton obtained Btry C, Howard, S. D., SVC Btry.

Lt. CoI. Robert D. Gobell was the first commander of the 147th FA Bn, organized at Sioux Falls, 17 Dec. 46. His executive officer was Major Orvel B. Swenson, who was promoted to lieutenant colonel 15 Feb. 47 and became battalion commander the next day. Col. Swenson commanded the battalion without interruption from that date and was its commander upon induction into federal service 1 Sept. 50.  Col. Swenson, who was 28 when he became battalion commander, was one of the youngest battalion commanders in the nation. He had many years of National Guard and federal service to his credit and was a graduate of the advanced course at the Artillery School.  He had served in the 147th during the late 1930's and was with it throughout its long Pacific campaign.

Capt. Thomas R. Iverson, another veteran of the 147th in World War II, was appointed cornmunications officer and also commanding officer of Hq & Hq Btry.  He and Cap John R. Rayl, named S·2, complete the initial staff of the battalion.  The first quarter of 1947 was perhaps the busiest period in the post World War II organization of the battalion. It involved the federal recognition of the units of the battalion, a diligent search for officers and an extensive recruiting campaign. Col. Swenson personally contacted many veterans of the 147th, Reserve officers and others, in his efforts to build the staff and provide increased officer personnel for the batteries.

Major Allan G. W. Johnson was assigned as Regular Army instructor for the battalion and arrived in Sioux Falls in January 1947. His office was in the headquarters of the 147th FA Bn in the Coliseum Annex, or armory. M/Sgt. Ervin L Roberts, his enlisted assistant, also reported for duty. This officer-NCO team was with the battalion for virtually all its state service.  Federal recognition for the staff and also for Hq Btry was gained at an armory drill period at the Coliseum Annex in Sioux Falls, on 16. Feb 47. Recognition soon followed for other units of the battalion.

Capt. Iverson was promoted to major and appointed executive officer 18 June 47. At this time, Capt. Rayl was promoted to major and became S3. 1st Lt. Donald E. Brown and Warrant Officer Earl W. Bonnacker, both veterans of the 147th, had joined the battalion on recognition day.  Warrant Officer Bonnacker was personnel officer and 1st Lt. Brown became Battery Commander of Hq Btry 10 May 47, also assuming the staff job of communications officer.

Recruiting and setting up the armory drill training program continued to be the main tasks during the first year of the battalion. There was no summer camp. Capt. Robert D. Chalberg, World War II veteran of the Madison, S. D., engineer company, was appointed to the staff 18 June 47.  Capt. Anson A. Yeager joined the staff 5 Oct 47 as assistant S-3. End of the year saw the battalion solidly established; the staff included eight officers and one warrant officer.

M/Sgt. Darold K. Hawkey, Sioux Falls car dealer and a veteran of the I47th, was appointed warrant officer 24 Feb. 48. He had been the first sergeant major of the battalion, having joined upon organization. After becoming warrant officer, he succeeded Warrant Officer Bonnacker as personnel officer. M/Sgt. Hawkey attended the personnel management course at the Adjutant General's School, Camp Lee, Va.. in February and March 1950.

Preparation for the first summer encampment made a busy period for the battalion staff early in 1948. Major Johnson, the instructor, conducted a gunnery school for the officers of the battalion at the armory in Sioux Falls. Training schedules for the l5 day camp at Rapid City, S. D., were carefully prepared in advance, to facilitate maximum use of the time available.  The battalion traveled by motor to Camp Rapid Rapid City, on 13 June 48, arriving there the next day. It rained 11 of the 13 days that the South Dakota National Guard was at summer camp. Nevertheless, training and morale were excellent.

During the second week, Col. Swenson directed the first service practice of the 147th FA Bn at an Air Force bombing range 20 miles east of Newell, S. D. The battalion bivouacked on a gumbo flat for three days--only one day of which was clear enough to permit firing. The battalion's planes were used for the first time. Lts. Paul H. Lammers and Clinto N. Cashman were the pilots. The battalion returned to Rapid City on a Friday, left Camp Rapid the next day and reached the home stations 27 June 48.  1st Lt. Jesse C. Robinson (like Lammers. a Navy veteran) was appointed 15 Sept. 48.  Later he became communications officer.

Second summer encampment for the battalion was at Camp Ripley, Minn., 11 to 26 June 49. again with the 196th Regimental Combat Team of which the battalion was a part.  Camp Ripley's ranges and the proximity of the artillery range, in particular, made it a more successful encampment than Camp Rapid.

Summer camp 1950 saw the battalion roll its vehicles eastward from South Dakota 11 June for Camp McCoy, Wis. This encampment was by far the most successful of the three summer camps, as borne out by the Army Field Forces superior rating of the 196th's training-something that was to have a great effect a short time later on the future of the combat team.

This was Major Allan G. W. Johnson's last camp as Regular Army instructor-his three year tour of duty having been extended an extra year.  Major Russell L. Norgordt, assigned to succeed him, met Col. Swenson and the officers of the 147th at Camp McCoy. Major Norgordt reported for duty in Sioux Falls in July. 

It was a Sunday, 7 Dec. 41, that the former 147th Field Artillery Regiment from South Dakota was aboard ship west of Hawaii, headed for a year's duty in the Philippine Islands. The attack on Pearl Harbor brought, with other far-reaching developments, the regiment's diversion from its Philippine destination to Australia.  It was a bright Sunday morning, 25 June 50, when the battalion's vehicles lined up on a Camp McCoy road for the trip home. Guardsmen riding the motor convoy were oblivious of the attack in Korea until they reached their overnight bivouac at Fairmont, Minn.  This Sunday s event didn't alter the 147th's immediate destination, but it did change its future--soon.

Units reached home stations 26 June 50.  Armory training was suspended for a month.  The 30-day alert prior to induction came 1 Aug. 50, when the Department of the Army called out the 196th RCT, a Tennessee RCT and four National Guard Divisions. Guardsmen knew that day that they would enter federal service for 21 months, more or less, on 1 Sept. and would be sent to Camp Carson, Colo.

August was a month of great activity. Drills were stepped up to three a week; Guardsmen under 17 were discharged; many veterans of World War II and young men of draft age enlisted in order to go with the 147th; supply involved requisitioning and clearing with the USP&FO for South Dakota.  Selected officers and enlisted men in each battery entered active duty 22 Aug. 50, to aid the induction of the battalion. Mr. Hawkey was one of those inducted early. He set up his personnel section and began the mammoth job of completing records on all officers and men. He sent teams to other batteries to help them in their processing work.

Reveille on 1 Sept.  found the 147th in the U. S. Army. The basis which the battalion had laid as South Dakota National Guard troops served the unit in good stead upon induction. Many officers in the battalion had been commissioned from the ranks. All the warrant officers were recruited from the enlisted ranks in the battalion. The battalion entered federal service with 25 officers, seven warrant officers and 313 enlisted men, approximately half strength based on its table of organization.  One of the first steps taken by the battalion commander, as planned before induction, was the ordering to school of certain officers, among them Maj. Iverson, the executive. They reported to the Artillery School, the first week in September with Major Iverson enrolling in the advanced course. These officers returned to the battalion in January 1951.

While processing was being completed by the units, staff officers prepared for the motor trip to Camp Carson and the troop train movement. The battalion was able to move all its equipment by vehicle.  Major Rayl led the motor convoy  out of Sioux Falls, S. D., 5 Sept. 50. The armory was the assembly point for the train movement. Clad in suntans. the Guardsmen marched from the Coliseum to the Milwaukee Depot and entrained late on the afternoon of 6 Sept. The next afternoon the convoy and troop train arrived at   Camp Carson, only a few hours apart. Others traveled by private auto.

An interim training program was soon started at Camp Carson--one program for cadre instructors, the other a filler program for men who had joined shortly before induction. This interim plan awaited the arrival of fillers before starting the 28- week training program.  Reserve officers who had been in on inactive status following World WW II, were the first personnel additions to the battalion. Eleven such officers reported for duty late in October. Col. Swenson had written, to each of them, relating background material on the 147th, discussing their assignment and informing them of living conditions in Colorado Springs. The reserve officers quickly became members of the "team" and a welcome addition.

The first fillers arrived on Thanksgiving Day. By Saturday of that week, the battalion had received enough fillers to place the 147th overstrength. The training program began the following Monday morning--and training became. the primary mission of the battalion, a mission that was emphasized more and more as time went on. These filers received in November were men  in the 22 to 24 age bracket and were among the first draftees to be called. They were mature and of high quality. They were receptive to training and their delinquency rate was nil.

During December there occurred the first levies on the 196th RCT for National Guard personnel to fill units which were destined for Korea. A number of Guardsmen were sent from the battalion under protest. However, the levy policy was soon changed to exclude National Guardsmen.  More fillers were received early in 1951. It ·became necessary to start second level training in the firing batteries. The first filler personnel-- men assigned in November--completed their basic training in March. A number were transferred for over-seas assignment and sent to Alaska and Austria.

Emphasis on training brought continued attention to Army instruction methods, inspections and development of the officer and NCO personnel. The battalion commander instituted a comprehensive training inspection plan. Officers' school was conducted two nights a week.  As the battalion training progressed more field work and close attention to the combat effectiveness of the units were emphasized.