The first 5 years

Co A, 2nd Battalion, 109th INF
The first 5 Years
Over the course of the 5 years the unit participated in Weapons Qualification training at both Leach Range in Clarks Summit and at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA (FTIG).. The same applied to participation in parades in Scranton for Armed Forces Day. Annual training was primarily at Camp A P Hill, VA and Camp Drum, NY. Each year the unit successfully underwent Command Inspections and an Annual General Inspection.
1 April 1963 was the date Captain Howard Jones took command. First Sergeant was James (Bucky) Lavelle. The authorized strength was 6 Officers and 183 enlisted men, which was changed to 134 in December. The unit participated in a Centennial Parade in Gettysburg, and the 28th Infantry Division Memorial Service at Boalsburg, PA. Reserve Enlistment Program (REP-63) was introduced. It changed the Military Obligation from
8 years to 6 and included a requirement that each new enlistee undergo a basic and advanced training period of active duty based on the special occupation training. Since 1954 enlisted men with no prior service could volunteer for from 8 weeks to 6 months Active Duty training and then return to their own units. The four hour weekly drill assemblies gave way to weekend drills.
1964 brought a change of command as Captain Santo Dettore was assigned.
In October 1965 the unit was selected for stepped up training and had priority for regular school quotas, equipment, and training. The unit became part of the Selected Reserve Force (SRF) and was now required to conduct an additional 24 assemblies per year for a total of 72 assemblies.
The following year 2LT’s Ross A DeNisco Jr. and John T. McCutcheon completed State Officer Candidate School (OCS) and were assigned to the unit. In December the unit was placed on alert for Law Enforcement Duty to protect lives and property at the site of the Cedar Avenue mine fire in Scranton.
1967. 2LT Daniel P Connell completed State OCS and was assigned to the unit. Annual training was scheduled for Camp Hill and advance parties where there when orders came to train at FTIG . Many civilian leaders believed that racist elements in the state would take advantage of the Divisions absence and cause trouble in the Commonwealth. The training was changed to Civil Disturbance Training, including eight hour riot control training as well as a brigade field training exercise.
A change of command occurred in 1968 as CPT Dettore was reassigned and 1LT Bruce Cummings was assigned. An April Division reorganization resulted in Co A being assigned to the newly formed 55th Brigade. Once again the unit was alerted for Law Enforcement duty following the April shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King, as serious rioting broke out throughout the State.

brothers

1944 - After the hostilities of WW II ended the 28th Infantry Division was deactivated and the men returned to their families and homes. Early in 1946 Governor Martin reorganized the entire Division as the Pennsylvania National Guard. The Pitston unit received federal recognition on 9 May 1947 as Cannon Co. 109 INF commanded by CPT Ferdinand Endres Jr. The following year it was re-designated as Heavy Mortar Co 109 INF. In July 1950 the entire Division was ordered into active federal service and the soldiers trained at Camp Atterbury, Indiana and as part of Operation Southern Pines, in Fort Bragg, NC and then sailed to Europe to become part of the US NATO force. Cannon Company quartered and trained in Gablingen, Kaserne, and Augsburg Germany, still under the command of MAJ Endres. After completion of 2 years active service in 1952 the men returned to the families, homes and jobs. Governor Fine reactivated the Division on 22 May 1953, and on 20 July 1953 the Pittston unit was re-activated as Heavy Mortar Co. under the command of 1LT Alfred Dresch, and succeeded by 2LT Richard Carpenter and then 2LT Howard Jones. The first annual summer camp was conducted on 22 August 1954. 15,000 Guardsmen and a crowd of estimated at 50,000 witnessed the official return of the 28th Division colors. On 1 June 1959 it was again re-designated as Combat Support Co. 1st Battle Group, 109th INF commanded by CPT Anthony Bolcavage and followed by CPT Howard Jones and remained as such until 1 April 1963 when it was re-designated as Co A, 2nd Battalion, 109th INF.