DJIBOUTI--Fifteen New York Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa received their United States citizenship during a historic naturalization ceremony at the United States Embassy in Djibouti City Djibouti Mar. 10. The Soldiers all belonging to the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team are in the midst of a 9 month deployment to CJTF-HOA conducting security and crisis response operations and are slated to return to the U.S. this summer. The ceremony is the first of its kind in the newly constructed U.S. Embassy and is a historic event for CJTF-HOA who has never before seen so many of its members become naturalized citizens at once. Maj. Gen. Jami Shawley the CJTF-HOA commander and the honorable Jonathan Pratt the United States Ambassador to Djibouti spoke at the ceremony and were among the first to congratulate the new citizens.
