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Show Cuard Plans Airlift To Puerto Rico Three hundred officers and men of the Utah National Guard will be airlifted to Puerto Rico next month to take part in a full scale Army and Air Force maneuver. mane-uver. Major General Maxwell Rich, Utah Adjutant General, flew to Washington, D.C., this week to coordinate the part of the 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 222nd Artillery Ar-tillery in "Big Slam," a 20,000 man operation. The Battalion has units in St. George, Cedar City, Richfield, and Beaver. It is the only National Na-tional Guard unit invited to participate par-ticipate in the war games. General Rich expressed pride in the selection of the units from small Utah cities to represent the entire National Guard of the United States in the mass land, sea and air maneuver. . "I think it is indicative of the type of men and the quality of their training. It shows real leadership lead-ership and community support, as it should be," he said. But he has no qualms about the Guardsmen standing shoulder shoul-der to shoulder with the Regulars. Regu-lars. The battalion is tentatively scheduled to depart by air on March 14. The Guardsmen will be issued equipment now used by the Puerto Rico National Guard. At the end of the two-week two-week operation, they will be air lifted back to Utah. A few officers of the Utah National Guard will be in Puerto Rico next week to coordinate the battalion's part in the exercise. exer-cise. They are Map. Reed Johnson, John-son, plans and training officer, 145th FA Group, Provo, and Capt. Rene H. Fournier, supply officer, Headquarters Utah National Na-tional Guard, Salt Lake City. |