The First of the Eighty-six Field Artillery Battalion changed its mission from their traditional combat role of delivery of cannon fire to that of Force Protection, or more commonly know as Military Police duty. The term “Redleg” is an old and honored name for an artillerist, hence “Task Force Redleg.” They may be doing MP duties, but in their hearts, they are still Redlegs.
With the band playing “Stars and Stripes Forever”, a sea of American flags, farewell speeches, TV cameras, well wishes from over fifteen hundred friends and relatives, and, yes, more than a few tears, the First of the Eighty-Six Field Artillery, renamed “Task Force Redleg” left Vermont on it’s first leg of its deployment to Iraq.
Task Force Redleg is expected to be gone from the hills of Vermont for at least eighteen months.
The two hundred men and woman of Task Force Redleg are members of the Vermont Army National Guard from armories in Berlin, Waterbury, Williston, Burlington, and Vergennes.
