Headquarters & Headquarters Battery, 130th Field Artillery

Approximately 50 soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 130th Field Artillery Brigade, Topeka, departed on their trip to Iraq, via Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on Apr. 2, 2006 following a ceremony at Free State High School, Lawrence.  In Iraq they took command of various force protection units in the theater.

They returned on June 9, 2007 from their deployment in Iraq, and were given a welcome ceremony at Hayden High School, Topeka.  They had been stationed at Camp Victory, Victory Base Complex near Baghdad. 

One of the projects the unit had done while serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, was the rebuilding of the Makasib Water Plant, located in a small farming community outside Baghdad, Iraq.  MAJ Kirk Petersen led the project, which was coordinated between the U. S. forces and an Iraqi contractor.  The project had been handed off to the 130th by the previous unit, which had been unable to complete it.

Other projects were facilitating repairs to the Baghdad International Airport Power Plant and maintaining access control, known as “badging,” to the Victory Base Complex.  In an attempt to make Victory Base more attractive and livable, SGT Carol Sprawks, painted murals on concrete barriers.

During the deployment, the 130th also initiated Operation Ruby Slippers, which was an opportunity for families, friends, neighbors, and work associates of deployed soldiers to provide school supplies, clothes, and other items for deprived Iraqis in the vicinity of Camp Victory, where they were stationed.