At mobilization ceremonies across the state this weekend, hundreds of servicemen from the Army National Guard were cheered on their way to training for a possible overseas deployment.
More than 1,800 soldiers assigned to the 27th Brigade Combat Team mobilized before heading to Camp Shelby in Mississippi to train for an expected deployment to Kuwait this spring. In Lockport, nearly 75 men from Company A of the Brigade Special Troops Battalion were thanked for their previous — and coming — service to the nation at a ceremony Sunday. Likewise, 90 were sent off in Geneseo Saturday, and more in Buffalo and Rochester.
At the Lockport ceremony, soldiers from across the state said good-bye to their friends and families. Erik Karlstrom, a sergeant from Fredonia headed for his first overseas deployment, embraced his 2 year-old niece Xoey for pictures as his extended family joined together for a bittersweet moment.
“The ceremony was very nice,” Lynda Karlstrom, Erik’s mom, said. “I have mixed emotions, I’m very proud but I want him to be safe.”
The soldiers’ return was a frequent topic at the emotional send-off. “Today we say farewell but know that starting tomorrow they are one day closer to coming home,” said Major Michael Senus, who was the company’s commander from 2006 to 2008.
Volunteers from the company’s family readiness group were numerous, providing information to parents on how to stay in contact and materials explaining the sacrifices being made by children’s fathers.
That selflessness was applauded by speakers at the ceremony. Congresswoman Kathy Hochul, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, thanked the company for their willingness to leave behind the security and love of their families to serve the country.
“There’s a lot of talk about the one percent and the 99 percent,” Hochul told the soldiers. “You are the real one percent, those who step up to make sure the greatest nation on the planet is safe.”
The guardsmen are focused on carrying out their mission, one that will become clearer once they arrive at Camp Shelby. It’s an opportunity that they’ve been waiting for since the Afghanistan mission Company A began training for in the fall was canceled due to the drawdown of American troops in the Middle East.
“The company is flexible,” said Corporal Kevin Adornetto, a Clarence native who along with Staff Sergeant Jonathon Little of Newfane and Specialist Davon Thomas of Saratoga Springs received Army Achievement Medals at the ceremony.
The men were singled out for achievement in the explosive ordinance training class this fall at Fort Irwin in California that focused on the type of improvised explosive devices used against American forces in Afghanistan.
“It’s a course with a high rate of failure, but we got an average of 98 percent,” Little said.
If the 27th is called into duty in the Middle East, they will face major challenges as combat engineers, military intelligence and signal companies and headquarters and headquarters company. But it’s for a mission that that calls for success.
“We’ve fought terrorists on every front,” Captain Shane P Leddon, the company’s current commander, said. “We will do whatever is required ... to pursue these enemies until there is no threat.”
Contact reporter Jim Krencik at 585-798-1400, ext. 6327.
Local News
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Congresswoman Kathy Hochul stands with members of the National Guard during a deployment ceremony Sunday. STEPHEN WALLACE/CONTRIBUTOR
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