HISTORY OF HEADQUARTERS AND HEADQUARTERS COMPANY

By M/SGT Floyd Covel

Two years after World War II a National Guard unit was organized in Edgemont, S. D. On 20 Mar 47, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Third Battalion, 196th Infantry regiment, held its first meeting at the city armory with an initial strength of three officers and nine enlisted men. Capt. Harry Peters was commanding officer and M/Sgt. Lawrence Raby was first sergeant.

By Jan of 1948, with the strength up to six officers and 24 EM, the   unit attended summer training at Camp Rapid, S. D. Due to heavy rainfall, training was difficult.  On 11 DEC 48, Capt. Peters was assigned to battalion S-4 and command of the company was turned over to Lt. Robert D. Tubbs.  Lt. Tubbs commanded the unit until pre-induction physical revealed that he was not qualified for military service.

The summer camp at Camp Ripley, Minn., in June 1949 saw the unit in better shape and a better state of training. The strength at this time was six officers and 35 EM. Training during the encampment was highly successful. Although the strength was down to seven officers and 33 EM by June 1950, the unit had advanced steadily and trained for two weeks at Camp McCoy, Wis.

On 1 Sept 50 the unit was inducted into federal service. Physical examinations depleted the company of some of its key personnel.  First Sgt. Raby was appointed warrant officer junior grade and 1st Lt. Donald H. Coolidge arrived to take over command of the company.  Most of the time was spent in packing equipment preparatory to moving to Camp Carson, Colo.  While packing was underway, rain flooded the armory with three feet of water and considerable time was spent cleaning mud off the equipment. Saturday night, 2 Sept 50, will be long-remembered by the men of Hq Co.,3rd Bn.  The people of Edgemont,  Igloo and the surrounding communities of South Dakota held a farewell buffalo barbecue and street dance.

On 9 5ept 50, at 1840 hours, the unit boarded CB&Q No.42 for its trip to Camp Carson. The train was late -- as is usual with troop trains -- and the trip was uneventful. There was not much excitement.  Perhaps too many of the men were thinking of the last time they boarded a troop train to depart for World War II.

The first 10 days of the company's existence at Camp Carson was accompanied by what many local residents said was the worst rain in years. The men spent 10 damp days policing the area while the communications platoon waded the ditches installing the battalion telephone system. After the area was presentable, a course of cadre and pre-cycle training was instituted in the 3rd Bn in preparation for the invasion from Texas which took place 10 Oct 50.  Replacements continued to arrive from Texas, some on 30 Oct and more on 20 Nov. Basic training for the new men was undertaken and training cycles were the principal concern of the men.

Christmas time approached and nearly everyone in the company had at least five days to go home for Christmas or New Years. The company was up to TO&E strength by this time and innumerable men were starting for specialist training at Army service schools at Ft. Benning, Ga. and Ft. Riley, Kan.  So far, men from Hq Co. 3rd Bn, who have finished basic have been shipped to Alaska and the 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Benning, Ga.