Project Victory
Project Victory aims to capture and retell the story of the 141st Field Artillery’s trial by fire in Iraq - its first combat deployment since WWII.
Project Victory coalesced as an idea following a speech from Colonel Jordan Jones [retired] at the 2024 Saint Barbara Ball for the 1-141st Field Artillery - twenty years after the unit’s deployment to Iraq under his leadership. In his speech he highlighted the many accomplishments of the unit while overseas, the variety of missions they had taken on, and the units singular loss. In the two decades since two books have been written on the Guard’s involvement in Iraq during that time - The Fighting 69th, and Tigers of the Tigris. No book has chronicled the 141st’s achievements but by proxy. This project aims to fill that gap.
The project’s scope is from June of 2001 during an NTC rotation at Fort Irwin, to approximately Feb of 2009 when JTF Gator was stood down four years and six months after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. The focus of the book is the mobilization and deployment to Iraq in 2004-2005, and return to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
“The Wild Wild West”
The most common refrain used to describe Iraq.
Iraq in 2004 was an ever-evolving conflict marked by complexity of operations both at a strategic and tactical level. What this means for us is that capturing this story is a reflection of the complexity of the story itself.
“You’re scared. If you’re a living breathing human you’re scared.”
We’re capturing the feeling of being there, not just the facts and figures.
Retelling the story of the Battalion as it went through mobilization, deployment, and homecoming means more than just recounting what happened. We aim to take your accounts of Iraq and Katrina and provide readers the feeling of incoming fire, the heat, and the smoke. We want them to understand what you felt as closely as possible to what you did.
The Briefing Room
If you were a member of the 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery between 2000 and 2006, particularly if you deployed in 2004-2005, and wish to be interviewed or contribute, please reach out to us!