FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa., - A Pennsylvania field artillery battalion is collecting awards for the state's National Guard like Michael Phelps won gold medals for the U.S. Olympic team.
The 1st Battalion, 109th Field Artillery, headquartered in Wilkes-Barre has won five prestigious awards in the last year - a remarkable achievement.
The Hamilton Award for best field artillery battery in the National Guard; The General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award for top company grade officer; The Brig. Gen. William Bilo Leadership Award for top field artillery officer in the National Guard; and Pennsylvania Army National Guard Soldier of the Year; were all awards bestowed upon the 109th and its Soldiers.
Battalion commander Lt. Col. Kevin Miller points to several reasons why the 109th has been so successful.
"We are a close-knit organization with tremendous leadership and a community that backs us 100 percent in everything we do," said Miller.
Miller further boils it down to the trinity of community, geography and Soldiers. "We have been part of the Wyoming Valley for nearly 235 years, and generation after generation has served in our ranks with pride."
Spc. Jonathan Hontz is the Pennsylvania National Guard's 2009 Soldier of the Year.
The 23-year-old combat medic's great grandfather served in the 109th. "I like what I do and I do my best," Hontz said.
His efforts have pushed him to the top of one the largest enlisted forces in the nation.
Capt. Joseph Ruotolo's is a two-tour combat veteran and the commander of the Nanticoke-based Battery B. His father commanded the battalion from 1994 to 1996.
Ruotolo recently received the 2009 MacArthur Award - an award that goes to the top 26 company grade officers in the entire Army, both active and reserve component. This makes back-to-back MacArthur Awards for the battalion.
Capt. Cliff Morales, the current headquarters battery commander and full-time training officer for the battalion received the 2008 award last year.
"When you look at the accomplishments of the other recipients - it is very humbling to be associated with those officers," said Ruotolo.
The battalion commander bridges the gap of success from community to Soldiers with the emphasis on geography. The bridge is as much literal as it is figurative. Crossing the Susquehanna River and connecting several northeastern Pennsylvania communities near its units is the 109th Field Artillery Bridge.
"No unit is more than 10 minutes travel from the others," said Miller. "This helps us in everything we do, from calling troops out for state active duty, to resourcing our forces to go to war to perhaps most importantly, building the camaraderie and esprit de corps of our Soldiers, families and units."
The battalion is comprised of four units: Headquarters Battery in Wilkes-Barre; Battery A in Plymouth; Battery B in Nanticoke; and Company G, 228th Support Battalion, also in Wilkes-Barre.
Rounding out Miller's trinity of success is the unit's enlisted force. "Our staff sergeants manage operations that officers twenty years ago would control, and when you are talking about hurling a 100-pound projectile 18 miles and hitting a target within 50 meters of where you're aiming, that says volumes about the abilities and character of these leaders," said Miller.
Ruotolo attributes his MacArthur Award directly to his enlisted members. "Awards are largely the recognition of the unit collectively, and this award is the direct reflection on the tremendous NCO corps within this battery. The field artillery staff sergeant is the one who makes the call on whether or not we are lethal on the battlefield - without them there is no success."
Capt. Neil Ravitz, the recent recipient of the Bilo Award, sums it up best. "The Soldiers of this battalion are simply fantastic people - salt of the earth - dedicated to the principles of hard work, family and service. And although it was a great honor to be recognized, as a leader you can only take so much credit for the great work your Soldiers do."