Wayne Austin
Military Service Of
Cecil Wayne Austin
• Viet Nam Era – AL Army Nat’l Guard 115th Signal Battalion •
Service Period: 1964 - 1972
Rank: Spec 4
ROTC (2 yrs) - University of North Alabama
In the Military Family:
Born in Tennessee, Cecil 'Wayne' Austin is the nephew of WW II Army veteran Claxton Barlar and WW II Civil Service worker Dolly Adell (Barlar) Davis.
___________________________________
August 1966 – Fort Benning, GA
- G.G. Grandson of William Henry Barlow
-G. Grandson of Alfred Jordan Barlow (Barlar)
- Grandson of Thomas Jefferson Barlar
- Son of Ruby Lee (Barlar) Austin
________________________
A Call to Action: The Vietnam War.
From 1968-69, 12,000 Army Guardsmen and 10,511 Air Guardsmen were called to serve their country. Over 9,500 Guardsmen were sent to Vietnam. Once again, the National Guard demonstrated combat-ready professionalism, earning over 4,000 decorations during the conflict.
_____________________
The Alabama Army National Guard maintains 141 armories, and is present in 129 communities.
The Federal mission of Alabama's Army National Guard is to maintain properly trained and equipped units available for prompt mobilization for war, national emergency or as otherwise needed.
The Alabama Army National Guard's State mission is to provide trained and disciplined forces for domestic emergencies or as otherwise required by State laws.
In FY99 the Alabama Army National Guard trained in missions around the world, including New Horizons '99. Soldiers traveled to the Dominican Republic in the aftermath of Hurricanes Mitch and Georges to run engineer operations. ALARNG personnel also worked in Panama clearing ranges as US forces left the country.
Fortunately, Alabama had only a small number of state emergencies in FY99. Engineer personnel assisted FEMA in damage assessments after an ice storm in north Alabama. In April and September, ALARNG aircraft maintenance personnel fought forest fires in Florida and CH-47 helicopters dumped water on hard to reach fires in the state.
Overall in FY99, Alabama had more than 3,450 Army Guard personnel participate in training activities in nine countries - Honduras, Dominican Republic, Panama, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Japan, Thailand and Korea. Several counterpart visits were conducted with Romania under the Partnership for Peace Program. The ALARNG 142nd Signal Brigade added an active Army signal battalion from Fort Lewis, WA to its troop structure. The 1/203rd ADA (Patriot), the National Guard's first "Scud Buster" battalion, trained for its first live fire mission in October 1999._
