Fort Sill battery deploys overseas

It’s not easy being separated from the ones you love, especially if they’re in the military.

Fifty to 60 U.S. Army soldiers will deploy overseas within the next week for a maintenance mission for an Avenger Weapon System.

An Avenger Weapon System is a mobile surface-to-air missile firing unit that can acquire, identify, engage or target aerial vehicles such as low-flying helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft from either a stationary or moving position, according to Military.com.

A deployment ceremony was held Tuesday afternoon at Rinehart Fitness Center on Fort Sill for those who are getting ready to leave.

1st Sgt. Dustin Lea said the system is a lower tier of air defense.

“We may be only a small piece of this pie, but we feed into the bigger piece,” Lea said. “With that, we do counter UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems). That’s what our primary job is, to go provide those abilities and capabilities to the unit commanders downrange within theater.”

Capt. Annaliese Coyne, Battery Commander for Charlie Battery 55 ADAR, said they are preparing to deploy to the CENTCOM Area oF Responsibility (AOR) and will be overseas in the Middle East for about nine months.

“Our mission with the Avenger weapon system is to engage and destroy small counter UAS threats,” Coyne said.

Coyne said one of the things they do is replace units that need to be replaced.

Coyne said the process of deployment was faster than usual because of its urgency.

“Typically, you’ll know a little bit in advance when you’re deploying,” Coyne said. “We found out back in, like, tail end of March and have been prepping through April, May and now June, to head out in the next week or so.”

Coyne said it takes about 27 months to prepare and engage the operation.

“The Army works in Red, Amber, Green cycles,” Coyne said. “So, you’ll have a nine-month train up, a nine-month deployment and then you come back and have a nine-month leave in.”

Coyne said she’s excited to do her job.

“Not everyone gets to deploy as a battery commander,” Coyne said. “That’s kind of what our bread and butter is as captains, that’s what we strive for. To take our soldiers downrange, execute in this vital mission set, bring everyone back and get back to training up for the next mission.”