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Gunslingers prepae for 'changing of the Guard'
Managing Editor
Following the successful mission recently completed in the Sinai Region by members of Searcy's 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, 39th eSB, the unit known as "The Gunslingers," has been officially deactivated as Task Force 2-153 of the Multi Force and Observers peacekeeping mission.
Next up for the unit is a change of leadership which will officially take place October 5 at the National Guard Armory in Searcy.
Major Franklin Powell, the unit's full-time administrative officer, is in charge of the armory during the time spent waiting for the part-time soldiers of the National Guard unit to arrive for their one weekend of training a month or the two weeks spent during the summer. His primary function is to ensure not only that day-to-day functions of the armory are taken care of, but that the training regimen is ready for the soldiers' arrival.
"In order to receive good training," Powell said, "everything has to be in place when the men arrive. Since they get one weekend of training each month, no part of that training needs to be spent in preparation, it all needs to be squared away and ready to go as soon as they get here. That's my job."
During periods of training, and during the recent activation of the unit, Powell serves as the executive officer (XO) of the unit, which places him directly below the unit commander in the chain of command. At other times, he serves at the administrative officer of the unit, which places him in charge of the armory and its functions.
Powell, 37, is married and lives in Searcy with his wife, Deana, and their two children, Johnathan and Jessica.
A member of the National Guard since 1984, Powell became a full-time active duty National Guardsman in 1990, beginning his full-time career as the training officer in Searcy.
"I got transferred around and finally got to come back to Searcy," he said. Powell, who is being transferred again, will leave the Searcy unit for a position as secretary to the general staff at Camp Robinson. There, he will work under and answer to the Arkansas National Guard Chief of Staff, Colonel William Johnson.
"He's like the XO to the Adjutant General," Powell said. "It's kind of like being an executive assistant in the civilian world."
Although Powell said that comparisons can be drawn between the full-time staff of the National Guard and staff of civilian occupations, there are obvious differences.
"There are stricter standards than at a typical corporation," he said. "I have to maintain my weight, pass a yearly physical training test, and some other things particular to the military, so there are some differences."
A major difference came about after September 11, 2001, following the terrorist attacks on the United States, when the Gunslingers unit was federalized and mobilized for active duty in the Sinai Region of Egypt. The purpose of the mobilization was to free up a regular army unit that had been scheduled for that rotation but had to be diverted to duty elsewhere.
"I thought if we got mobilized that we would backfield a unit here in the States that was going overseas," Powell said. "We did backfield a unit, but it was overseas, on a truly significant mission."
His reaction, he said, consisted of mixed feelings of anxiety and pride.
"Obviously, I was anxious about the mission," he said. "But I felt proud that we were going overseas, doing a real mission, rather than guarding an airport here. That's a true mission itself, I don't want to minimize the importance of it, but it's like practicing football your whole life and never getting to play in the game. We got to play in the game."
The Gunslingers set some major precedents while in the Sinai, Powell noted, the most obvious being its status as the first pure National Guard unit to serve in that mission.
Also, it was the first unit to rotate through with no major accidents.
"We came away with the best safety record of anyone who's ever going through over there," he said. Powell attributed that record to the cohesive nature of the unit.
"These guys have trained together for years," he said. "They know each other, they know one another's capabilities, and they have a level of maturity that is not always found in a regular army unit. The regular army people were very surprised at how professional our soldiers are. I wasn't. Our guys, a lot of them, have been in the unit for years."
Powell was a college student and an employee at United Parcel Service when he made the decision to join the National Guard. He said that he made the decision to join the Guard rather than the regular army because he thought the Guard offered the best of both worlds.
"I wanted to stay close to Arkansas instead of going all over," he said. "I enjoy the life we have here but I also enjoy the military training. This way I get to enjoy both."
As for his personal goals, Powell said that he would one day like to command his own battalion, or possibly even become Chief of Staff. However, he said that whether he meets those goals or not, there is one personal goal that he strives for on a daily basis.
"These guys want the best training they can get," he said. "They have no desire to belong to a unit that is shoddily run. If I retire as a major but I have served the unit and the soldiers well, I'll feel like I have had a successful career."
Considering all of the fanfare received by the Gunslingers, with receptions and other honors, Powell said that he tries to keep things in perspective and remember that he and his fellow soldiers were called to do a job and are not the first Arkansas soldiers to perform admirably.
"We have a lot of Arkansans who have done a good job to preserve what we have," he said. "When we look at that flag, I want people to remember that people died defending that flag."
Powell also noted that none of the success of the Gunslingers' mission can be attributed to any one person, nor can any military success.
"In the military it's a team effort," he said. "In a football game, in a society, or in life, it takes everyone to make it work. We did what we did because we all got in there and did our best to make it work."
Replacing Powell is the former secretary to the general staff, previously the National Guard public information officer, Major Cary Shillcutt of North Little Rock.
"I'm excited about this," Shillcutt said, as he worked to get moved into his new office. "This is the battalion that I was commissioned in as a lieutenant, and to come behind someone who has done as great a job as Major Powell is an honor. This is a great unit and it just feels good to come home."
Shillcutt has been in the National Guard for 16 years, and has been a full-time staff officer for five. As a civilian, he obtained a degree in mass communications at UCA, and has worked in the office of the attorney general with the Smart Choices/Better Chances program, and in production for KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock.
Currently living in North Little Rock with his wife, Angela, and their three children, Tyler, Jarrod, and Hayden, Shillcutt said that he plans to eventually relocate to the White County area.
Shillcutt said that he joined the National Guard primarily for the school benefits but came to love the job.
"I went full-time because I found that I enjoyed what I was doing on the weekends more than what I was doing during the week," he said. "It's a great mission. We support the community, the state, and the nation."
iWebTech: Chird Bobbitt