Svc Btry

Up Hq Btry Svc Btry A Btry B Btry C Btry Medical Det

HISTORY OF SERVICE BATTERY

By

Sgt H. Graves

Service Battery. 147th Field Artillery Battalion; was formed under the command of Capt. Warren L.  Prostrollo at Howard, SD on 25 Mar 47. Lt William R Quinn and eight enlisted men responded to the call to meet the minimum requirements necessary to form the organization. Capt. Prostrollo, WOJG Bradbury, M/Sgt. J. Jorgensen, SFC. Breuer, and SFC. Gulbranson are the charter members who still appear in the ranks of Service Battery.

The unit has been honored by the service of Lt. James S. Quinn, Lt. Lemaster and Lt Vernon S Merriman who joined as platoon leaders.  Lt Quinn and Lt Lemaster remained with the unit until its mobilization into active duty. Sgts. Bradbury and Genzlinger were appointed warrant officers on 2 Aug. 50. This was the first time in the organization's history that it could boast of having its full complement of officers.

No summer encampment was held in 1947 due to the small number of personnel that belong to the 147th FA Bn at that time. In 1948, Svc Btry traveled to Camp Rapid, Rapid City: S. D., where the men trained for two weeks. It rained nearly every day which combined with the youthfulness of the organization and lack of equipment, made it difficult to obtain proper training. One of the highlights of the encampment was the perfect score fired by Pvt. Hammond on the carbine range.  Two officers and 30 enlisted men traveled by train to Camp Rapid, but returned by trucks which were procured during the encampment. While attending camp. it was announced that all members of the Guard were exempt from the draft, so Cpl. Poshuta returned to Howard, S. D., to enlist any men who desired to take advantage of the ruling.Shortly after returning from summer camp, Svc Btry attained its authorized strength. The Governor of South Dakota, in General Order 7, commended the unit for being the first to attain this goal.  After a two day trip and an overnight bivouac at Glenwood, Minn., in 1949, Svc Btry arrived at Camp Ripley, Minn. This encampment found Svc Btry living in squad tents and beginning specialized training. The Motor Pool erected a tent which was used for the maintenance shop.  Under the direction of SFC. Breuer, Svc Btry was able to furnish enough cooks to prepare its own chow at this encampment. It was the first unit to achieve this degree of specialized training in the battalion. Two officers and 47 EM comprised Svc Btry at Camp Ripley.

The third and final encampment attended by Svc Btry as a National Guard unit, was held at Camp McCoy, Wis. Three officers and 49 EM represented the unit at the camp. On the carbine range, the battery proved its efficiency--84 percent of the men from Svc Btry qualified with this weapon, attaining the highest percentage of any of any battery in the 147th FA Bn. On the return trip from Camp McCoy the convoy stayed overnight at Fairmont, Minn. The Korean outbreak occurred while returning from this encampment.

By direction· of the President of the United States and General Order 119, Fifth Army Headquarters, dated 7 Aug. 50. 147th FA Bn was ordered into federal service on 1 Sept. 50. August 1950 found the members of Svc Btry attending three meetings a week preparing for federal service.  Personal officers, physical examinations and briefings on what Army life would be like, along with drill and physical training kept the troops busy during this last month.

Capt. Prostrollo, Lt. James Quinn, Lt. Lemaster, WOJGs Bradbury and Genzlinger and 55 enlisted men were present on 1 Sept. 50 to be inducted for 21 months of service. The first few days of Army life were spent at Howard, S. D., making the final preparations before leaving. The Legion Hall was converted into a mess hall and the men were fed by the mess section of the battery. The remainder of the battery prepared equipment for the trip to Camp Carson, Colo., where they were to take their training. WOJG Genzlinger, Cpl. Liabel and Pvt. Rauenhorst went to Camp Carson as an advanced detail to prepare for the arrival of the remainder of the battery. A convoy of one jeep and eight trucks left Howard two days ahead of the personnel to carry the equipment which Svc Btry had. Several of the personnel left at the same time with private automobiles and trailer houses which were to become their new homes. The remainder of the personnel left Howard by bus and traveled to Sioux Falls, where they joined the other batteries of the 147th FA Bn, and boarded special train for the journey to Camp Carson.  The community felt the loss of the large number of men taken to serve their country, but its people were proud that their husbands, sons. friends and sweethearts were able to serve their country with the home town unit.

The first few weeks at Camp Carson were spent preparing the area and buildings for training purposes, after which the men and officers began training for the jobs to which they were assigned. Lt. Hawkins and Lt. .Breen were assigned to Svc Btry to fill the positions vacated by the transfer of the original platoon leaders. Lt. Breen was reassigned to the 176th FA Bn and Lt. Pechtal was assigned to the vacancy.  On 28 Oct., Sgt. Albertson and Sgt. Gulbranson, Cpls. Getz, Peschong, D. Miller and Lauer went before the board of promotions and on 1 Nov., Svc Btry had two more sergeants first class and five more sergeants. SFC Albertson was made platoon sergeant to the ammunition train and SFC. Gulbranson became battalion supply sergeant. Sqt. Getz and Sgt. D. Miller became section leaders of the ammunition train. Sgt. Lauer became acting motor sergeant.  On 1 Dec., Sgt. Buttenob, the first sergeant of Svc Btry, was promoted to sergeant first class. M/Sgt. Jorgensen returned to be motor sergeant, and Sgt. Lauer became section leader. Sgt. Leider became acting supply sergeant and Cpl. G. Miller became a section leader. On 16 Dec., he was promoted to sergeant.

Svc Btry received its first fillers from Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, on Thanksgiving Day,1950. During the next week it received the remainder of the men needed to bring the company up to authorized strength. Shortly after the arrival of these troops, the men of Medical Detachment, 147th FA Bn, were attached to Svc Btry for rations and quarters. They also trained with Svc Btry until a commanding, officer was appointed for them.  On 1 Feb. 51, Cpl Graves was promoted to Sgt. to fill the vacancy left by Sgt. Schueller and 31 Mar 51 Cpl. Liable was promoted to sergeant to fill the vacancy left by Sgt. Robb. Sgt. Leiler was promoted to sergeant first class on this date and became supply sergeant to Svc Btry.