By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
 |
| The Second Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment in 2022 and 1918. Photo collage by Maj. William Carraway. |
Citizen-Soldiers
of the 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment said
goodbye to the command team of Lt. Col. John Avera and Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey
Gulley and welcomed Lt. Col. Joshua Patterson and Master Sgt. Daniel Paul
during a ceremony at the Monroe County Recreation Center March 5, 2022.
 |
| Lieutenant Colonel John Avera transfers the colors of the 2nd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment to Col. Jason Baker, commander of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, symbolizing his relinquishment of command during a ceremony in Forsyth, Ga. March 5, 2022. Photo by Maj. William Carraway |
Colonel Jason
Baker, commander of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team presided
over the ceremony and recounted the efforts and accomplishments of the 2-121 during
Avera and Gulley’s tenure.
“Lieutenant
Colonel Avera and Command Sgt. Maj. Gulley, you have led the battalion well,
and you can be proud of the accomplishments that have transpired under your
leadership,” said Baker. “Your contributions will have a lasting impact and you
are leaving behind yet another foundation for continued success.”
Gulley assumed
responsibility for the Warrior Battalion in 2018 and guided the battalion
through its successful 2018-2019 Afghanistan deployment. Avera assumed command
of the battalion in March 2020, just months after the battalion returned from Afghanistan.
Within days of his assumption of command, Avera was leading the battalion
through unprecedented civil support operations as part of the coordinated response
to the Coronavirus pandemic in Georgia. Under the leadership of Avera and
Gulley, Soldiers of 2-121 formed infection control teams to disinfect long term
care facilities in Albany, Georgia which, in the early months of the pandemic, had
one of the highest per-capita rates of COVID-19 cases in the nation. The
Soldiers also provided personnel to assist hospital operations and testing
facilities.
 |
| Specialist Jermon Christy, a wheeled vehicle mechanic assigned to the Albany-based Company H, 148th Brigade Support Battalion, prepares testing kits at a specimen point of collection site in Albany, Ga. April 30, 2020. Photo by Sgt. Richard Sadilek. |
“Your
contributions to COVID operations, without a doubt, saved hundreds of lives,”
said Baker.
As civil
unrest gripped the nation in May, Soldiers of the Warrior Battalion rushed to
the aid of civil law enforcement in Atlanta augmenting security at Centennial
Olympic Park and ensuring a safe environment for free expression. Many of these
same Citizen Soldiers would again be called to duty in the wake of unrest in
Washington DC January 6, 2021. Originally tasked to provide security to the
Washington Mall, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 121st
Infantry were assigned to provide security to the capitol cordon after volunteering
for the mission.
 |
| The colors of 2-121 at the United States Capitol January 2021. Photo courtesy of 2-121. |
Having battled COVID-19 and responded to two separate civil unrest missions the Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion were again called to duty in 2021, this time mobilizing 370 Soldiers to Morocco for Exercise African Lion. The Soldiers conducted platoon training as well as day and night fire exercises with direct and indirect fire assets. The exercise ended with the 2-121 participating in a multinational combined arms live fire exercise.
 |
| Sergeant Thomas Cullens, an infantry mortarman assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team inspects an M252A1 81mm mortar system during exercise African Lion 21 June 9, 2021, in Tantan, Morocco. Photo by Capt. Bryant Wine. |
In
recognition of their outstanding efforts in leading the battalion Baker
presented Avera and Gulley with the Meritorious Service Medal in recognition of
their leadership of “…the battalion during one of its most tumultuous times.”
In recognition to their support of the Warrior Battalion, Hannash Avera and
Danielle Gulley received the Georgia Commendation Medal.
 |
| Left to Right: Lt. Col. Joshua Patterson and Master Sgt. Daniel Paul, incoming command team of the 2nd Battalion 121st Infantry Battalion; Col. Jason Baker, commander of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team; Lt. Col. John Avera and Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey Gulley, outgoing command team of 2-121 prepare to conduct a change of command ceremony in Forsyth, Ga. March 5, 2022. Photo by Maj. William Carraway |
Assuming
command of 2-121, Lt. Col. Joshua Patterson brings a wealth of experience to
his new role. A former enlisted armor crewman with the 48th Brigade’s
108th Armor Regiment, Patterson commissioned and rose through the
ranks of the 121st Infantry serving in staff and command roles, He
completed two combat tours in Afghanistan with the 48th IBCT and most
recently served as the operations officer of the 48th IBCT and 78th
Troop Command.
 |
| Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Patterson receives the colors of the 2nd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment from Col. Jason Baker, commander of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, symbolizing his assumption of command during a ceremony in Forsyth, Ga. March 5, 2022. Photo by Maj. William Carraway |
As incoming
senior enlisted leader, Master Sgt. Daniel Paul Roberts is also a well
acquainted with the 121st. He deployed with Company A, 1-121 to Iraq
in 2005. And served in Company H, 121st Infantry Long Range
Surveillance. He volunteered to return to Iraq in 2009 with the 178th
Military Police Company. Returning to the 121st, Paul served as a
platoon sergeant in Company D, 3-121 and as 1st Sgt. of Headquarters
Company and Company A, 2-121.
 |
| Master Sgt. Daniel Paul receives the colors of the 2nd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment from Lt. Col. Joshua Patterson symbolizing his assumption of responsibility during a ceremony in Forsyth, Ga. March 5, 2022. Photo by Maj. William Carraway |
The Soldiers
of 2-121 carry on the tradition of service that predates World War I. As part
of the 2nd Georgia Infantry Regiment. Soldiers of units that would
constitute the 2nd Battalion mobilized to the Mexican Border in 1916. Returning
to Georgia in 1917, the Soldiers immediately began training for European deployment
and, in October 1918, sailed for France as part of the newly designated 121st
Infantry Regiment. The 2nd Battalion was again called to serve in
the European Theater in World War II fighting from Normandy across the Brittany
Peninsula and one to the Hurtgen Forest.
 |
| December 4, 1944 – Two men of the 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment walk down a street amid the ruins of Hurtgen, Germany. Photo 197428, National Archives. |
When the Georgia
National Guard was reconstituted in 1946, the 121st Infantry was
reorganized as part of the 48th Infantry Division. The units of 2-121
remained in service through the reorganization of the 48th as the 48th
Armor Division in 1955 and were one of the original units assigned to the 48th
Infantry Brigade when it was constituted in 1973. The 2nd Battalion
mobilized to Bosnia Herzegovina in 2001, Iraq in 2005 and to Afghanistan in
2009, 2014 and 2019.
 |
| Soldiers from Alpha Company, 2nd Battallion-121 Infantry Regiment pull security at a tactical control point while the Iraqi Army Forces inspect vehicles on July 10, 2005, near Al-Radwnea, Iraq. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Reynaldo Ramon. |
No comments:
Post a Comment