{"id":7954,"date":"2023-02-06T16:52:11","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T16:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=7954"},"modified":"2023-02-15T19:39:14","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T19:39:14","slug":"maryland-army-national-guard-soldiers-set-to-deploy-to-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2023\/02\/06\/maryland-army-national-guard-soldiers-set-to-deploy-to-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers set to deploy to the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Story by 2nd Lt. Enjoli Saunders<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EDGEWOOD, Md. \u2013 Maryland Gov. Wes Moore spoke to Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers and their family members, friends, and co-workers during a deployment ceremony February 6, 2023, at Weide Army Heliport located on Aberdeen Proving Ground – South. Approximately 70 Soldiers and seven CH-47F Chinook helicopters assigned to Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, deployed to support Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Spartan Shield in Southwest Asia where they will conduct air assault, air movement, and logistical resupply missions.<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Timothy Gowen, the adjutant general of Maryland, hosted the ceremony, which was attended by Maryland National Guard senior leaders and distinguished guests.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBravo Company is a \u2018tip-of-the-spear\u2019 unit, and they\u2019ve always succeeded in their missions,\u201d said Gowen. \u201cWe are extremely proud of how these Citizens-Soldiers are always ready to serve their state and nation. Their sacrifice, as well as that of their families, will not be forgotten as we eagerly await their safe return home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past 10 years, Bravo Company Soldiers deployed multiple times to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. They have also supported domestic operations including Hurricane Florence in South Carolina, where they evacuated 64 people and 9 animals, as well as transported over 118,000 lbs. of emergency aid and cargo. Additionally, they supported the recovery efforts in Maryland after the Ellicott City flood in 2016 and Oakland Dam overflow in 2007.<\/p>\n

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Nearly 200 family members and friends who attended the ceremony were able to tour the helicopters in the Ruth Army Aviation Maintenance Facility hangar. The 229th Army Band performed the ceremonial music and the Yellow Ribbon Program provided gifts and resources for everyone in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice having the Governor come out, hearing the band, and seeing everybody together,\u201d said Alison Miller, fianc\u00e9\u00e9 of U.S. Army Capt. Gerald A. Foster III, a CH-47F pilot. \u201cI\u2019m happy but obviously there\u2019s a little bit of sadness in there, hopefully the year goes by fast. He is very deliberate with how he does things, good with planning and very thorough. I know that everyone is going to be in good hands.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Gov. Moore, a U.S. Army\u00a0 and commander-in-chief of Maryland, was able to speak personally about what this deployment means to the Soldiers and their families since he deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat an honor it is to be here with you Bravo company, \u201c said Gov. Moore. \u201cThank you for stepping up when the state and when this country asked. Thank you for raising your hand when it\u2019s not the easy thing to do. Thank you for when our country says that it needed you now, that you did not ask the country to wait. That you stepped up, that you served, and I wanted to let you know that this state appreciates you with everything in us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore attended the deployment ceremony for approximately 70 Soldiers and seven CH-47F Chinook helicopters assigned to Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, Maryland Army National Guard, February 6, 2023 at Weide Army Heliport located on Aberdeen Proving Ground. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":7957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7954","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\/7954","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\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7954"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8008,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7954\/revisions\/8008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}