Liberal’s National Guardsman Receive Training Prior To Deployment

In preparation for a deployment to the Horn of Africa, Kansas National
Guardsmen of the 1st Battalion, 161st Field artillery are conducting training
at Fort Riley.

Soldiers will be conducting a live fire exercise with .30-caliber and .50-caliber machine guns
mounted on armored humvees.

Approximately 100 soldiers will be involved in the training that day out of
the approximately 550 soldiers that will be deploying in April for the
one-year mission.

The battalion is headquartered in Wichita with units in Liberal, Dodge City, Great
Bend, Lenexa, Hutchinson, Newton, Paola, Pratt and Topeka. The
battalion commander is Lt. Col. Thomas Burke. Command Sgt. Maj. Ricky
Matticks is the battalion’s senior noncommissioned officer.