WEBVTT

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- Here we are outside the readiness center

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for not one, but two units!

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Both the 263rd Army Air
Missile Defense Command,

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and the 2nd of the 263rd ADA,

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are both housed here inside this facility.

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So we're gonna go in,

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and we're gonna find a
couple people to talk to,

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and learn a little bit more
about what goes on here.

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- So I've been associated
with the 2nd 263rd

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for quite a few years.

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And I've seen it evolve over the years

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from where it was literally
Air Defense Artillery,

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and we actually had artillery
that we fired for air defense.

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And then, those systems
have evolved over the years.

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We now fire missiles for our engagements,

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and we have a very,

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I guess efficient you would say,

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early warning system,

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that we can push air
picture and early warning

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all the way down to our fire units.

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And those fire units
receive that early warning,

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and that's how we can do
our air battle management

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all the way up through the echelons.

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And we're able to engage
the air breathing threats

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within our area of operation.

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So like I said,

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it's a very efficient system,

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and our soldiers are
very proficient at it.

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We have another role up in
NCR, National Capital Region,

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that we also are responsible for

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that falls under our
Homeland Security mission.

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But then over the last couple of years

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we've gotten involved in the
European Deterrent Initiative.

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And it's, essentially,

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we are filling the gap
that the active component.

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Since they a few years ago

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got away from the short-range
air defense systems,

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and the National Guard took
over all those systems.

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They are trying to bring that back now,

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to the Air Defense community,

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for short-range air defense.

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But in the meantime,

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we are responsible for filling that gap

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and filling that roll.

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So we have units that
are rotating to Europe

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in support of active duty units.

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So we basically go over
for one-year missions

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and support them and provide them

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with short-range air defense.

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This community is very
supportive of the 263rd.

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I don't think they fully comprehend

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that worldwide there are only four

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Army Air Missile Defense
Commands in the world,

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and one of those happens to be here.

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We are the only reserve component

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that is an Army Air
Missile Defense Command.

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The others, two of 'em are located OCONUS,

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and then there's one at Fort Bliss, Texas,

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but we are the fourth one here.

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And it's a very important role.

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This Army Air Missile Defense Command

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came to be, really, in response to

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the 9-11 attack that happened.

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Within just a few short months after that

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they created the 263rd AAMDC,

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and that's when the Homeland
Security role started for us,

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up in national capital region.

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And again, we have been
working on that mission

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for a number of years,

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in improving the systems

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and improving our abilities
to protect and defend

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the national capital region.

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But this community's been very supportive.

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It's still very supportive of 263rd AAMDC.

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- So the day-to-day here
for me on a normal weekend

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as the Battalion Master Gunner

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is supervising training.

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So with that, we have a number of tasks

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that the guys must complete
to a certain standard

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in order to be proficient
with the weapon system.

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So our primary weapon system
is the Avenger Weapon System,

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which is linked to a
radar providing air tracks

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in any type of environment.

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So in that weapon system,

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it's a short-range air
defense weapon system

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that's a shoot-on-the-move,
fire-and-forget weapon system.

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So what that means is,

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it's a heat-seeking missile that,

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once the operator has acquired a target

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and acquired that heat source,

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once they fire through their sequence,

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they can switch to
another target immediately

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and that missile will
track down that aircraft.

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Well it's very unique.

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As Chief Kase stated, we're the
only reserve component AAMDC

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Air and Missile Defense Command.

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And with that, being a reserve component,

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we have people who come from
all different walks of life.

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And they work different types
of civilian jobs and so forth.

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And I think as a reserve component,

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the adaptability to these guys

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to be able to adjust to any situation,

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to be able to pack up and leave

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their families and normal jobs,

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to go conduct the types of
missions that we conduct,

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it's a really big deal in my opinion.

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- All right, so we're
all finished up here.

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We learned a little bit about

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what goes on with these units.

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Big part of the Anderson
community up here.

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Very cool mission set
that these folks have,

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and we're gonna move on

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and find the next unit

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and see what else we can learn.

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- As we continue to
travel across the state,

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our next stop is the 2nd of
the 263rd Charlie Battery,

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and we're gonna go check it out

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and see what they have to offer.

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- So my name is Sergeant
First Class William Vickery,

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I'm here with Charlie
Battery 2nd of the 263rd.

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I'm the resident CO for this facility,

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as well as the platoon Sergeant.

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We are just returning back
from our overseas trip

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from Poland, Germany,
Romania, Estonia, Lithuania,

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in the European Defense
Deterrence Initiative.

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Worked a lot with overseas
forces over there.

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Coming back, reintegrating
back into the unit

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here in Clemson, South Carolina.

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Great place to be!

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They are very supportive of what we do.

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It's busy, especially during
football games and everything.

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But they're great with working with

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as far as the police, EMS.

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We do have the opportunity
to work with them,

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granted it hasn't been is
much as it has in the past

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simply because of the op tempo
that we've had as of late.

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As far as community support
goes from the local populace,

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the guys are great.

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You can't walk out without somebody

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wanting to buy you lunch,

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shake your hand and say thank you,

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and it's always very pleasant
anytime that you go out.

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It's a great place to be

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and everyone here really enjoys it.

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So it's a great variety,

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Clemson University's right down the road,

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so it's a good spot to be.

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The mission of Charlie Battery,

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just with any other short-range
air defense battery,

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we have the Avenger Weapon System,

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as well as the Sentinel Radar.

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Those work and conjunction

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to provide short-range air defense

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for whatever the Commander
deems is necessary.

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I had mentioned earlier that

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we had overseas mission in Europe,

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European Deterrence Initiative.

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Provide short-range air defense for ABCTs,

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provide short-range air defense

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for, perhaps, a C-RAM mission,

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and integrating into
several things like that.

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The way that the Guard
a lot of times is sold

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is the one weekend a month,
two weeks a year type of thing.

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And that's really not what
we're seeing as much anymore.

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Just because, like I
said, our mission before

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we have an incredibly high op tempo.

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We're constantly moving,

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there's always a mission somewhere.

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Either it's stateside, be it overseas,

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we're getting ready to go to Poland.

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Constant annual trainings,
constant movement.

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So we had the opportunity last
year to go over to Germany

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and see a lot of the European countries

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that a lot of people never
get the opportunity to go see.

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I loved it and I thought
it was a great opportunity!

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If someone likes that kinda thing,

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it's an opportunity to
go do stuff like that.

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We're constantly on the
move and always moving.

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If you wanna stay busy,
this is a good place to be.

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Air Defense Community's
blown up out of demand

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in the past couple of years
from what it used to be.

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So it's a great MOS to be in,

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I thoroughly enjoy being an Air Defender,

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and I think a lot of the guys here do to.

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It's a transition from
being more stationary,

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as air defense evolves.

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Not necessarily evolves,

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goes back to where its roots were

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and our original calling.

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We're moving a lot.

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We have a high, very high,
op tempo as of right now.

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- So we learned a lot of information

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about the 2nd of the
263rd, Charlie Battery.

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And it was really cool to learn

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how they go and they travel

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to all different kinds of places.

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So if that's something
that you're interested in,

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and you wanna get out
and experience things

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that you probably would
never get to experience,

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maybe this is the
readiness center for you.

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But now that we've checked
out this readiness center,

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we're gonna head on to the next.

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- All right, here we are at
the 2nd 263rd Alpha Battery

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in Seneca, South Carolina.

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Super old, super historic
readiness center up here.

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And we're gonna walk inside

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and see who we can find to talk to.

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- So we're Alpha Battery 2nd 263rd.

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We're in the 2nd Battalion, obviously.

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This building, this facility,
was built in the '50s.

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The original plans for it
went into effect in the '40s,

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so we've been here where,
from what I understand,

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we're the oldest armory in the state.

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A lot of history here,

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we're very tied into
the history of Seneca.

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We average about 60 personnel
here on drill weekend.

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And we're air defense artillery,

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so we have the Avenger weapon systems.

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We operate in concert with 14 Golfs,

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they run our radar system.

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And we really don't have many,

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we used to have a lot
of support MOSs here,

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but we don't have as many now.

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Currently we're ramping up

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to go to Poland for Defender 2020,

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so we stay real busy.

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We just got back from a joint
mobilization about a year ago,

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where half our battalion
went to DC, the NCR rotation.

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The other half went to what's called EDI,

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the European Deterrent Initiative.

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So we just got back
from that not long ago,

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so we're about to go back
to Europe again in May

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and we're gonna run an exercise,

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a multi-national Defender 2020 exercise.

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So that's why you see the stuff

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sitting around the armory floor,

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we're getting ready for
that, getting ready to go.

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See if we can go over there

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and do what's called a wet gap crossing.

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So we're gonna defend,

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we'll be the air defense
for that initiative

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while they cross a big body of water.

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So we're excited about that.

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That's a short snapshot of kinda

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who we are and where we're at.

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So again, we've been
very active in this unit.

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Probably, really our
first real mobilization

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was in the 2005 timeframe,

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it was in response to 9-11.

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So we were one of the first rotations,

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active duty actually initially went,

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and if you look at some
pictures of the NCR,

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you'll see our weapons system
sitting out right on the mall,

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right near the national monument.

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And so then we went up and were

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the first rotation to take their place.

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It was huge, in response to 9-11,

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and a lot of those sites
have been moved a lot,

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but they're still up there.

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So we're still up there
providing active air defense

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to our nation's senior leaders,

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so it's huge, it really is.

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And so we do take a lot of pride in that.

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We've actually started
to branch out a good bit,

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and ADA is one of the most
deployed organizations DoD-wide.

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So we do a lot, we move
a lot, we're going a lot.

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But we've started to get
involved in Europe a little bit,

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I was telling you a little bit about EDI,

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the European Deterrent Initiative,

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we're involved in that.

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So we're about to go do an
exercise with that in May,

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I covered that a little bit ago.

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But that's a little bit about

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who we are and where we've been.

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- So there you go.

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It was super awesome
to talk to these folks.

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As most people may know, or may not know,

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the ADA community is one of the,

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or is thee oldest community,

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in the South Carolina National Guard.

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Dating from way back when.

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Artillery has kinda always been our thing.

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Super awesome to make
it all the way up here

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to Seneca, kinda the far side of the state

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from where we started from.

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And so, cut out from here,

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and we'll go move to the next one,

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and see what else we can find out about

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the South Carolina National Guard.

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(dramatic music)