The 75th Field Artillery Regiment was an SLDF Royal Regiment that carried the name- and honors of the old United States Army 75th FA; unlike most Royal Regiments, the 75th was not stationed as a whole Regiment in one garrison, but instead was attached by battalions to other SLDF Royal- or Regular units as support. 2nd Battalion, the 'Thunder Lizards', primarily operated in District One of the FedSuns Military Region, and for much of their time in the Suns were attached to the 60th Royal Battlemech Division on Firgrove. Unlike the 60th Royals, the Thunder Lizards survived the Periphery Uprising relatively-intact, and did yeomans' work during the Rim Worlds Campaign- and distinguished themselves during Operation CHIEFTAIN, where their forces played a pivotal role in the capture of a RWA division that had occupied Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The Thunder Lizards were one of the SLDF units that remained in the Inner Sphere after Kerensky's Exodus-, and one of the only Royal units to do so; the remainder of the 75th Field Artillery went with Kerensky (and eventually became part of the nascent Clan Ghost Bear-).
The Thunder Lizards (circa the beginning of the New Vandenburg Uprising-) were an over-strength battalion comprised of three three-Lance Primary Firing-Batteries, a three-Lance combined Air-Defense- and Reserve Battery (one Lance of-which was rumored to be a nuclear-capable Special Weapons Lance), and a Headquarters Battery including Logistics- and Technical personnel, a Hover-Mechanized demi-Company of infantry equipped with TAGs, and a Company-sized unit of nominal Jump-infantry for security.
Primary Firing-Batteries (designated 'A', 'B', and 'C')
--Three Lances each; each Lance consists of: One Mongoose-66b, one Griffin-2N, two Helepolis-3H.
Reserve/AD Battery (designated 'D')
--One Lance Rifleman-3N
--One Lance Pollux ADA-Tanks
--One Lance Chaparral Artillery-Missile vehicles (rumored to be the Special Weapons Lance)
Headquarters Battery
--Repair/Tech Section (BRVs, Paramours)
--FiST Demi-Company (Two Platoons Hover Mechanized Infantry with TAG)
--Battalion S-1 (Admin) S-2 (Intelligence), S-3 (Operations), and S-4 (Supply) offices
--Security Company (officially Jump-infantry; truthfully a Company of SAS with rarely-used Nighthawk Mk.XXI Power-Armor (Light) suits)
Notable Members
--Master Sergeant Michael Mcamis; Battery 'A': Michael 'Little Mac' McAmis fired the first shot of the Thunder Lizards' involvement in Operation CHIEFTAIN. The stocky Tennessean was-, prior to the outbreak of hostilities in the Periphery, nominated twice for a slot in the Gunslinger Program and a subsequent transfer to a more-prestigious unit; he turned both nominations down rather than be reassigned to another unit. Little Mac and his Helepolis, Ugly John, were accorded the honor of being the Base Piece (which the other guns took their azimuth- and declination from during fire-missions) for not only his own Battery- but all three of the Primary Firing-Batteries. After the Battle of Fort Sill, the CO of the Thunder Lizards, Major Daniel Hotchkiss, gave McAmis a battlefield-commission to Lieutenant- and a sternly-worded order to accept it quietly.
--Sergeant Douglas 'Brother Doug' Schanks; 1st Squad/1st Platoon, Headquarters Battery FiST Demi-Company: Douglas Schanks held the Regimental record for number of commendations for skill- and valor in the field; he also held the Regimental record for number of Non-Judicial Punishments in-garrison. Schanks himself bragged that the shortest amount of time he held Sergeant's rank before being demoted was twenty-four hours. 'Brother Doug' was slain during the Battle of Fort Sill after calling a fire-mission down on his own position as it was being overrun by RWA tanks.
--Master Sergeant Gregory Davis; Headquarters Battery Security Company: Greg Davis told the majority of the SLDF that he was a Jump-trooper; he told the majority of his family that he was a PX-system truck-driver; the truth was that he transferred to the 2nd/75th FA from the 77th SOG, and while his Lieutenant signed the paperwork, 'Frog' Davis was the real leader of his Company of "Miscreants-, Malcontents-, and Murderers". Frog had a well-deserved reputation for being Major Hotchkiss' go-to for "Field Requisitions-Support", i.e., "Grand Larceny Directed at the Enemy". Davis was the only member of the Thunder Lizards who went with General Kerensky on the Exodus.
