The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1959-05-26
Farmville Retains Infantry
Unit In Guard Reorganization
Powlatan Company
Gets Mortar
Platoon Status

In Defense Department-ordere
reorganization CT the Ma fora !
Guard throug bout the nation,
Farmville's Company G. will be
designated Company B, First Battle
Group. 1l6th Infantry.
The historic unit will not lose its
Infantry company identity. other
than the letter designation, nor will
the reorganization change the status
Of the Armory here.
Captain r. Julian Bradshaw will
continue as company commander,
but in order to give the company
the manpower the reorganized units
must have, part of the company
will be located at Lynchburg where
one Of the reorganized companies
will be absorbed in the Farmville
unit.
The vast nationwide reorganiza-
ton follows the "pentomic' con-
cept. That designation is derived
from the Greek prefix penta
meaning five and atomic for
the type Of warfare military units
must now be prepared to fight
PoWhatan Unit
The other National Guard unit in
the Herald area, PoWhatan's Heavy
Mortar Company of the l76th Regi-
mental Combat Team, becomes the
Heavy Mortar Platoon of the Com
bat Support Company, First Battle
Group. l76th Infantry The PoWha-
tan armory will be retained. but
command of the unit shifts to Rich
mond
Infantry divisions, under the five
sided, atomic concept. change from
three Regiments with supporting
troops to five Battle Groups. Each
Battle Group contains seven com
pany-slze units, each with increased
fire power and greater manpoWer.
Each Battle Group, to facilitate
the scattered existence atomic
warfare may impose, is admins
tratively contained. When it
operates with/a division, it can be
completely 'air-transported or fully
motorized from special divisional
units. These provide the swift move
ment equired in the military
atomic age, and communication ia
(cilities are heavily reinforced and
improved to provide control of
wldely-spread units.
Battalion Changes
The former S e ond Battalion.
ll6th Infantry, which had its five
units at Farmville, South Boston
and Lynchburg, will be absorbed by
the First Battle Group. ll6th Infan-
try. 1t. Col. John c. Steck, of
Farmvllle. Second Battalion COM
mander, will become First Battle
Group deputy commander, with the
Battle Group headquarters at Roa-
noke
Captain Paul D. Jones. of Shep-
pards, who had been Second Bat
talon Supply officer. will become
the First Battle Groups motor Off
GER
In the overall Virginia reorgani-
cation. there Will be no reduction
IN National Guard strength The
former strength was 1885 officers
and men. That becomes 8,452 under
reorganization. However, a number
OF units are changed from Infantry
to other service arms, and vice
versa. Also, some units which had
been in the 29th Division become
non divisional. supporting type
units. That is the case with the
Second Battalion's former Com
pany at South Boston, which be-
comes the 1l73rd Transportation
Company. 1t was formerly an In
fantry Company.
Of the other Second Battalion
units. Headquarters Company and
E and H Companies, all three at
Lynchburg, will be redesignated, to-
gether with the artillery battery
company, which also is located at
Lynchburg.
Headquarters Company and the
battery become the Combat Sup
port Company of the First Battle
Group at Roanoke. H Company will
Continued on page y