{"id":10906,"date":"2025-10-20T16:50:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=10906"},"modified":"2025-12-03T18:39:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T18:39:58","slug":"maryland-army-national-guard-soldiers-deploy-to-southern-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2025\/10\/20\/maryland-army-national-guard-soldiers-deploy-to-southern-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Army National Guard soldiers deploy to southern border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Maj. Benjamin Hughes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. \u2014 About 120 Maryland Army National Guard soldiers assigned to the 1729th Support Maintenance Company gathered at the Mallette Training Facility, October 20, 2025, for a farewell ceremony ahead of their deployment to support federal operations along the southern U.S. border.

Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead, the adjutant general for Maryland, hosted the ceremony with fellow soldiers, families, and community members in attendance. The soldiers of the unit will provide unique military capabilities in support of the United States Border Patrol under Joint Task Force-Southern Border.

\u201cYou have built a company that is ready, confident, and capable,\u201d said Birckhead. \u201cThat kind of readiness does not happen overnight. It is the result of deliberate leadership and a restless pursuit of excellence. I am sure you will excel.\u201d

The 1729th SMC completed extensive pre-mobilization training, including a rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. The demanding Mojave Desert environment and high-intensity, scenario-based operations tested the unit\u2019s readiness and cohesion. Battalion leadership stated that the 18 months of pre-deployment training validated the company\u2019s ability to perform its upcoming mission.

\u201cCapt. [Jon] Shipley was picked for his abilities and potential, knowing a tough training cycle was coming,\u201d said Lt. Col. Anthony S. Morris, commander of the 1297th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. \u201cHe is decisive in his decision-making, and he has a keen ability to navigate complex organizational problems that will greatly benefit his soldiers.\u201d

The soldiers departed the following day to begin their federal mobilization. Shipley thanked the families and emphasized the crucial role they play in the lives of each Guard member.

\u201cOur soldiers are nothing without their support system,\u201d said Shipley, commander of the 1729th SMC. \u201cYou allow us to operate and fulfill our duties while focusing on the mission, and we could not do it without your ability to hold down the fort at home.\u201d

The unit and its predecessors have served in the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, and, most recently, Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2011. During Operation New Dawn, soldiers of the 1729th SMC maintained communications and electronics systems, repaired a wide range of military equipment, and played a key role in the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq.

The unit has also supported state missions, including extensive COVID-19 response operations. Their work at home included distributing more than 400,000 meals to Maryland families during school closures and supporting testing sites during the peak of the pandemic.
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by Maj. Benjamin Hughes ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. \u2014 About 120 Maryland Army National Guard soldiers assigned to the 1729th Support Maintenance Company gathered at the Mallette Training Facility, October 20, 2025, for a farewell ceremony ahead of their deployment to support federal operations along the southern U.S. border. Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead, the  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":10912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10906"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10914,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10906\/revisions\/10914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}