[Vision2020] 126th Engineer Company to Depart On/About September 17th

Tom Hansen thansen at moscow.com
Tue Apr 27 14:39:50 PDT 2010


Anybody interested in assisting me in coordinating a send-off for the
126th give me a shout off-list.

Courtesy of the Army Times.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

2,700 guardsmen from northwest going to Iraq

By Rebecca Boone - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Apr 27, 2010 8:13:24 EDT

BOISE, Idaho — More than 2,700 members of the Army National Guard in
Idaho, Montana and Oregon will be sent to Iraq for a yearlong deployment
this fall.

The members of the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team will go to Camp
Shelby, Miss., for about two months of training starting Sept. 17, before
heading to Iraq for the remaining 10 months of the deployment, Col. Tim
Marsano said.

About 1,500 of the soldiers are from Idaho.

The Department of Defense notified the Idaho National Guard last fall that
as many as 3,500 guardsmen could be deployed to Iraq this year. The
Pentagon has since decided it does not need that many soldiers from the
116th, Marsano said.

Many of the soldiers will mark their second deployment to Iraq. Among them
is Col. Don Blunck, the brigade deputy commander. He first went to Iraq
when the Idaho National Guard deployed for 18 months in late 2004.

“I think we are better prepared in that we know what to expect as this
process goes along. Last time, we really didn’t know what the initial
mobilization day was going to be like, what it was going to be like to
move into Kuwait and then into Iraq,” Blunck said.

His family also is better equipped to deal with his absence, he said.

Still, all that readiness doesn’t necessarily lower the stress of a
deployment, Blunck said.

“I still have to get into that mindset that I’m here to do a job and I’m
not going to worry about what could happen to me,” he said. “It’s harder
on family at home.”

Gov. C.L. Otter said the soldiers would represent the state well.

“With the help and understanding of friends, employers and other community
members, I have no doubt our hometown heroes will succeed again,” Otter
said.

Brig. Gen. Gary Sayler, Idaho’s adjutant general, said support centers
around the state will help family members of deployed soldiers cope with
their absence.

Monday’s orders also affect Montana’s 163rd Cavalry Regiment and Company E
of the 145th Forward Support Battalion. Once mobilized, the 145th and the
163rd will be attached to the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team.

More than 500 soldiers from across Montana will be affected by the
deployment, Montana Guard Lt. Dan Bushnell told the Helena Independent
Record.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown




More information about the Vision2020 mailing list