The Georgia National Guard’s 138th Chemical Company: A Brief History

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

Left: the 138th Chemical Company Guidon with streamer from the 2014 Sibert competition. Right: Sergeant Brady Hudson, a chemical specialist with
the 138th Chemical Company is applauded by Col. Vernon Atkinson, commander of the Marietta-based 201st Regional Support Group, for his performance in
Georgia's Best Warrior Competition Jan 11, 2014. Hudson, a Conyers resident, was the top-finishing NCO from the 201st RSG. Photo by Spc. Darnel Morgan. 

The 138^th Chemical Company provides chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear surveillance and decontamination for the 265^th Chemical Battalion, part of the 201^st Regional Support Group and its Region IV Homeland Response Force Mission. Authorized to organize Sept. 1, 2006.[1] In Decatur, Ga., the unit relocated to Kennesaw where it was federally recognized Jan. 18, 2008.[2]

Georgia Army Guard Soldiers of the Marietta-based 138th Chemical Company – part of Joint Task Force 781, 78th Homeland Response Force, spent
Jan. 7, 2011 learning how to use and maintain the new self-contained breathing apparatus used during evacuation, search and extraction missions.
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Roy Henry.

On July 1, 2011, the 138^th relocated from Kennesaw to Dobbins Air Force Reserve Base in Marietta.[3] In 2014, the 138^th was established in its present location on Dobbins ARB.[4]

Three years later, the 138^th received the Maj. Gen. William L. Sibert Award which recognizes the best Chemical Company in the National Guard.[5]

“They were strong in each category judged compared to all the other units,” said Thomas Crow, a personnel development analyst for the U.S. Army CBRN School. “In fact, it was not even close. The 138^th Chemical Company stood head and shoulders above the competition.” Factoring in the judges’ decision was the involvement of the 138^th in volunteering activities, training excellence and support to winter storms. The judges also cited the performance of Sgt. Brady Hudson, a chemical specialist with the 138^th who represented the 201^st RSG in the state Best Warrior competition.

Guardsmen from the Marietta-based 138th Chemical Company perform line decontamination of simulated victims during search and extraction
certification training at Fort Stewart, Ga. March 3, 2018. The victims were extracted from a simulated collapsed building. Photo by Staff Sgt. R.J. Lannom Jr.

The 138^th has participated in training exercises and real-world domestic response missions ranging from Exercise Vigilant Guard in 2015 to the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the 138^th constituted the first infection control team in the Georgia National Guard in March 2020 and were among the first Georgia Guardsmen mobilized to protect public safety in Atlanta following civil unrest in May 2020. Members of the 138^th Chemical Corps are presently deployed overseas supporting missions in the Pacific Command area of operations.

Georgia National Guard Staff Sgt. Jecory Lambert, a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear specialists with the Marietta-based 138th Chemical
Company, 265th Chemical Battalion, 201st Regional Support Group, directs visitors to receive COVID-19 vaccines April 13, 2021
at a vaccination site in Savannah, Ga. Photo by Cpl. Isaiah Matthews.

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[1] OA 128-04 June 9, 2004.

[2] OA 59-08 Apr. 3, 2008.

[3][3] OA 217-11 July 17, 2011.

[4] OA 232-14 April 29, 2014.

[5] Will Cox. “138^th Chemical Company Receives Sibert Award.” The Georgia Guardsman. July 2014, 10.

Sion B. Hawkins: Georgia’s 25th Adjutant General

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Ga. Army National Guard

 

Lieutenant Sion Hawkins in World War I.
Georgia National Guard Archives. 

Sion Boone Hawkins assumed office as the 25th Adjutant General of Georgia January 14, 1941. The 53-year-old lieutenant colonel of the Atlanta-based 179^th Field Artillery Regiment was appointed by Governor-Elect Eugene Talmadge January 5 to succeed Brig. Gen. Marion Williamson.

Hawkins was born Aug. 19, 1887 to Eugene and Mary Hawkins of Americus Georgia. Hawkins’ father was a prominent attorney and longtime mayor of Americus.[1]

Hawkins began his career in the Georgia National Guard in 1904[2] when he enlisted as a private. Hawkins rose steadily through the enlisted ranks while attending college. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1908 and went to work as a bookkeeper for a cotton company in Americus while maintaining his membership in the National Guard.[3] Following the declaration of war against Germany April 6, 1917, Hawkins entered officer training camp and was commissioned a 2^nd lieutenant August 14.

Hawkins entered federal service Aug. 15, 1917 and was assigned to the 321^st Machine Gun Battalion, 82^nd Infantry Division. Promoted to 1^st lieutenant February 6, Hawkins served overseas from May 2, 1918 and participated in the engagements of Lorraine, St. Mihiel and The Meuse Argonne. Returning to the United States in May 1919, he was discharged from federal service June 14.[4]

Lieutenant Colonel Sion Hawkins, 1939.

Following the post-World War I reorganization of the National Guard, Hawkins rejoined
the Georgia National Guard as a major assigned to the inspector general’s department. By 1927 he was assigned as major of the 122^nd Infantry Regiment.[5] Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1933, Hawkins served as the executive officer of the 122^nd Infantry Regiment from 1933 until the regiment was converted to form the 179^th Field Artillery Regiment in 1939.[6]

Upon appointment by Governor Talmadge, Hawkins was promoted to brigadier general. During his tenure as adjutant general Hawkins also served as acting director of selective service. With his dual appointment, Hawkins not only oversaw the operations of the Georgia State Guard but advised state boards and employers on balancing the need for military manpower and critical civilian occupations.[7]

Hawkins served as Georgia’s Adjutant General until Jan. 12, 1943 when newly elected governor Ellis Arnell appointed Brig. Gen. Clark Howell to succeed him.

Hawkins died December 15, 1948 at the age of 61. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Americus.[8]

 

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[1] “Eugene A. Hawkins, Americus Lawyer, Dead of Apoplexy.” The Atlanta Constitution. Nov. 7, 1917, 20.

[2] Secretary of War, National Guard Register for 1939 (National Guard Bureau: Washington D.C. November 1, 1939), 301.

[3] Year: 1910; Census Place: Militia District 789, Sumter, Georgia; Roll: T624_213; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0109; FHL microfilm: 1374226

[4] Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013
Original data: Georgia Adjutant General’s Office. World War I Statements of Service Cards. Georgia State Archives, Morrow, Georgia.

[5] The Secretary of War National Guard Register for 1927. (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office 1927) 193.

[6] The Secretary of War National Guard Register for 1939. (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office 1939) 301.

[7] “Hawkins Lists Skills Needing More Workers” Atlanta Constitution. July 13, 1942, 13.

[8] "Sion Boone Hawkins (1887-1948) - Find A Grave...," Find a Grave, accessed January 4, 2021, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25607604/sion-boone-hawkins)

Jan. 10, 1956: Georgia National Guard Responds to Water Crisis

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the Columbus-based 560th Engineer Battalion begin filtering water from a temporary holding tank before
pumping the water to the Loganville Reservoir. Georgia National Guard Archives.

From 2020 to present day, the Georgia National Guard has assisted Civil Authorities with the coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the National Guard has a long history of providing support to civil authorities in times of crisis.

In January 1956, following prolonged drought conditions the wells that supplied drinking water to Loganville, Ga. dried up. The city reservoir had less than 3,000 gallons available.[1] Faced with an immediate health crisis, Governor Marvin Griffin activated personnel of the Georgia National Guard to set up an emergency water system to supply the city.

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the Atlanta-based 201st Ordnance Company load up pipe in response to a water crisis in Loganville.
Georgia National Guard Archives.

Departing Columbus at 5:00 a.m. under the leadership of Lt. Edward Reed, the engineers of the 560^th Engineer Battalion travelled by military convoy to Loganville. Within five hours of arriving at the emergency water collection point, the Guardsmen dammed a stream, set up four 3,000-gallon filter tanks and set up six water pumps. Personnel from Atlanta’s 201^st Ordnance Company installed nearly one mile of four-inch aluminum piping. At 4:00 p.m. the Guardsman were pumping water to supply the city reservoir at a rate of 6,000 gallons per hour to the relief of Mayor Clifford Cowsert of Loganville. By Thursday, the Guard-installed system had pumped nearly 54,000 gallons of water to supply the city’s water needs.[2]

 

Loganville Mayor Clifford Cowsert, Left, and Maj. Gen. George Hearn, Georgia’s Adjutant General,
 observe as Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the 560th Engineer Battalion
prepare to pump water from a stream to a temporary holding tank. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the Atlanta-based 201st Ordnance Company load up pipe in response to a water crisis in Loganville.

Loganville Mayor Clifford Cowsert, Left, and Maj. Gen. George Hearn, Georgia’s Adjutant General, observe as Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the 560^th Engineer Battalion prepare to begin pumping water from a stream to a temporary holding tank.

 

Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the Columbus-based 560^th Engineer Battalion begin filtering water from a temporary holding tank before pumping the water to the Loganville Reservoir.

 

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[1] “Guard Called in Loganville Water Crisis.” The Atlanta Constitution. January 12, 1956, 8.

[2] “NG Engineers, Ordnance Co Avert Water Shortage in Loganville. The Georgia Guardsman. Jan, Feb 1956, 2-3.

A New Year on the Border

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

American Military Novelty cartoon marks a New Year on the border. Georgia National Guard Archives.

In October 1916, more than 3,600 Georgia National Guard Soldiers were dispatched to the Mexican border in response to cross-border unrest. Writing home from El Paso, Texas, Cpl. Robert Gober Burton of the Monroe-based Company H, 2^nd Georgia Infantry Regiment recalled spending New Year’s Day 1917 in remote outpost duty along the border.

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the 2nd Georgia Infantry Regiment man “Sentry Post Number 1” near El Paso, Texas in 1917.
Photo by 2nd Lt. Vivian Robertson.

January 5, 1917

My Dearest Mama,

Not having heard from you in several days I shall write. The regiment has gone for 15 days outpost duty and the mail has not been attended to as it should.

From all indications, we will not remain much longer on the border.[1] There is strong talk of bringing Pershing out of Mexico, and if he does, I fervently believe that we will be sent home. The sooner the better with me.

I had a real nice letter from Auntie[2] the other day. Was certainly glad to hear from her.

I am thinking of sending the muffler and laundry bag home as everything here is so dirty that I am afraid that I will spoil them. The muffler is surely nice, but I can’t wear it as it doesn’t suit very well with government clothes. Besides, we are furnished all the war clothes that we can wear. I have some under clothes much heavier than those I wore at home. We have a big overcoat that weighs about 15 pounds and a hood that goes over the head, so I keep very warm and comfortable.

Ed (Williamson)[3] and myself are getting along very nicely. I have had a slight cold, but it is well now. I used Vicks salve and it was soon broken up.

Write to me soon

As ever, your devoted son,

Gober                                                                                                      

 

Company H, 2nd Georgia Infantry Regiment at Camp Cotton, El Paso, Texas. Sergeant Ed Williamson stands far left with Burton standing to his left.
Georgia National Guard Archives.

 In September, the 2^nd Georgia Infantry Regiment was redesignated the 121^st Infantry Regiment. The 121^st Continues in Georgia National Guard service today as part of the Macon-based 48^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Monroe is now the home of the 178^th Military Police Company, part of the 170^th Military Police Battalion and the Marietta-based 201^st Regional Support Group.

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[1] Despite the rumor mill, the Georgians would not return home until March 1917.

[2] Auntie refers to Mary Eulalia Nunally, wife of William Hartwell Nunnally. Before he mobilized to Europe in October 1917, Burton’s aunt presented him with a pocket testament which ultimately saved his life by stopping a bullet July 30, 1918.

[3] Sergeant Augustus Williamson of Rock Mart, Ga. Williamson and Burton served together from June 1919 in Company H, 2^nd Georgia Infantry Regiment. They mobilized to France with Company A, 151^st Machine Gun Battalion. For valor in combat, Williamson was nominated for the Distinguished Service Cross. He was instrumental in the reorganization of the Walton Guards following World War I and served as its first commanding officer before being selected to serve as the United States Property and Disbursement Officer. He died May 20, 1976 and is buried in Rest Haven Cemetery in Monroe, Ga. not far from the headquarters of the unit he helped to reorganize. Today, the 178^th Military Police Company carry on the tradition of National Guard service in Monroe.