The men and women of the New Hampshire Army National Guard's 237th Military Police Company held their official deployment ceremony on Sunday.
The company will deploy to Afghanistan for nine months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The company consists of 110 soldiers. They'll train at Fort Bliss, Texas, for two months before departing to Khost Province to mentor Afghan National Police and conduct joint presence patrols against enemy insurgents.
Seventy-seven soldiers are being deployed for the first time. Others are on their second and third deployment.
It will be the first time Spc. Kimberly Marquez Torres will be deployed overseas. She was motivated to join the National Guard from generations past.
"I used to work in a nursing home, and a lot of my residents would speak about their deployments and how they would never change anything," Torres said.
Spc. Nicholas Corigliano, 26, has toured in the past. He served in Iraq for a year in 2009. He said his love for his country is what motivates him to keep serving.
"We're bringing the fight there and not bringing it back here," Corigliano said.
While it's difficult to be away for so long, the soldiers know they have support from their families as well as Gov. Maggie Hassan.
"They are so devoted to their state and their country and working so hard to make the world safer," Hassan said. "I'm really proud of them."
Presidential Election 2012 Incumbent politico Tammy Baldwin house of representatives paul ryan michele bachmann
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন