Manti National Guard named top field artillery battery in the Army
James Tilson
Staff writer
6-8-2017
MANTI — The 145th Artillery, Bravo Battery, (sometimes known as Battery B) of the Utah National Guard, the unit based in Manti, has received an award recognizing it as the finest field artillery battery in the U.S. Army.
Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton, commander of the Utah guard, presented the “Hamilton Award” to the unit, consisting of about 100 officers and soldiers, at a ceremony Saturday May 27 at the National Guard armory in Manti. A number of top guard officials along with Manti City Council members joined in the event.
The award was created by an act of Congress in 2004 to recognize the top artillery unit in the Army each year.
Calling the award “a big deal,” Maj. Gen. Burton related how when he joined the Army in the 1990s and served in the artillery, he, along with members of other units, always knew if they wanted to be the best artillery unit in the Army, they had to beat the battery in Manti, Utah.
Capt. Andrew Olsen, commander of Bravo Battery, said that the award “shows the hard work and the excellence of the guys” in the unit.
He said that the award also reflects well on the community, because, “we get so much support [from the community], being out and away from the big city.”
Olsen said the honor also shows the “quality of the people from this area” since the unit draws so many members from Sanpete County and Manti in particular.
The unit was activated during the Iraq War and spent approximately one year guarding detainees at a U.S. prison camp in Bacca.
