Non-commissioned officers with instructor type backgrounds were projected into future training programs to reap the greatest harvest of training possible. Key officer and non-commissioned officer assignments were as follows:

     

Bn CO LTC LIttle

     
S1 CPT Smallwood S2 CPT  Goodwin S3 MAJ  Buchly S4 1LT Irvin  S5 2LT Avery
         
        
  Co A CO Co B CO Co C CO HHC CO Cbt Spt CO
  CPT Ragus CPT Johnson CPT Middaugh CPT Zeedyk CPT Blue
           
  1SG Co A 1SG Co B 1SG Co C 1SG HHC 1SG Cbt Spt
  1SG Ramey 1SG Gibson 1SG Willis 1SG Combs 1SG Bonner
           
     

The people were available, experience was present, desire to excel was rampant, and the Pioneer Battalion vowed to continue to strive for perfection and total preparedness for any contingency which might arise in the future.

     

The initial days of April 1968 proceeded in a normal fashion . . . early morning physical training, intensified individual, and small unit training were the primary order of the day and it became obvious that the troops were steadily adapting to the prescribed program of preparation for possible world-wide deployment.

     

Our continued efforts to support the re-enlistment program were culminated by the "Pioneer Battalion" being the recipient of the Commanding General's Re-enlistment Award for the month of March. An appropriately inscribed plaque was presented to LTC Little during a ceremony held in the office of the Commanding General. This award of distinction is currently on display in the battalion headquarters, among the numerous other awards awarded over the years.

     

Without warning, our “routine” was suddenly shattered. Terror stalked our city streets as wide spread civil disobedience raged uncontrolled across our land. Violence, looting, arson, pillaging, and wanton sniping pre-occupied the sorely taxed civil law enforcement agencies in the area involved. Our nations [sic] capital, the very symbol of individual freedom, became victim to the torches of the arsonists. Rampant daylight thievery became common place and the toll of dead and injured steadily mounted. Over seven hundred fires plumed smoke into the sky, vividly marking the demise of the citadel of freedom. Victimized merchants, homeless families, and the aroused citizenry demanded action, Action was forthcoming. Training schedules were hastily revamped, riot control training was conducted on a continual basis, contingency plans were updated, and the entire 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry prepared for deployment to any troubled area in CONUS.

       

Giant C-141 "Starlifters" were programmed to be the means of deployment and previously trained air-loading crews of the "Pioneer Battalion" were dispatched to Peterson Field, Colorado Spring, Colorado, to render all assistance possible to Fort Carson units having a higher deployment priority than the 1/11.

      

However, the basic mission of the battalion was not totally forgotten. Newly assigned troops continued to participate in machine-gun and M-14 sharpshooter training. Fortunately, air-loading planning for disturbed areas were in keeping with plans already formulated for world-wide deployment, thereby providing various

       
 

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[Webmaster: 1968 Annual Historical Supplement Page 5]