CONTACT: Mr. Eric Durr (518) 786-4581 or
Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, on site: 441-4106

FOR RELEASE: Saturday, Sep 29, 2007

WHO:

About 50 Soldiers at each site from the 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry and the Fighting 69th Infantry Battalion, family members, friends and local officials

WHAT:

Send Off Ceremonies for Mobilizing New York Army National Guard Soldiers for service in Afghanistan

WHEN:

Saturday, 29 September 2007 (See details for each location below)

WHERE:

State Armories at Geneseo, Gloversville, Morrisonville and Camp Smith Training Site at Cortland Manor (near Peekskill)

About 200 Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard’s 27th Brigade Combat Team are being called to federal active duty this week for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan ahead of the main body of the task force, which is not scheduled for deployment until after the New Year in 2008. Four platoons of infantry Soldiers from four different infantry companies are coming together to form a composite security force team and must begin their training early in order to be in place for the rest of the New York National Guard team. Their total deployment time is expected to be limited to the planned one year for the entire task force. Geneseo: Start Time: 1000 Location: Geneseo Armory, 34 Avon Road, 14454 Unit POC: 1SG David Oliver Gloversville: Start Time: 1000 Location: Gloversville Armory, 87 Washington Street, 12078 Unit POC: 1LT Richard Redmond, 2LT James Loy Morrisonville: Start Time: Noon Location: Morrisonville Armory, 16 Fairgrounds Road, 12962 Unit POC: 1SG Arnold Stone Camp Smith: Start Time: Noon Location: Camp Smith, Cortlandt Manor (Parade Field), 10567 Unit POC: SFC Joseph Fisher The Department of Defense announced plans on August 1st to mobilize more than 1,700 members of the Guard’s Syracuse-based Headquarters, 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and sub elements in 2008. The 27th will take command of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix VII, which has the responsibility for the training and mentoring of the Afghan National Army and National Police and providing additional reconstruction support to the fledgling democracy and the Afghan people. The deployment period will be one year. Presently, the South Carolina Army National Guard’s 218th Brigade is performing this mission having taken over from the Washington Guard’s 41st Brigade in May. The task force from New York will include Soldiers from the New York City and Hudson Valley areas, the Capital District, the North Country and Central and Western New York. In addition to the Syracuse-based 27th Brigade Headquarters, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix VII will include a Training Assistance Group formed from the Guard’s 106th Regional Training Institute based at Camp Smith in the Hudson Valley and mentoring teams drawn from Guard combat and combat support units, security force personnel from the Western New York-based 2nd Squadron 101st Cavalry, the 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry from Central and upstate New York and the Fighting 69th Infantry Battalion from New York City and the Hudson Valley, and logistic and personnel from the 427th Forward Support Battalion at various armories statewide. More than 6,000 members of the New York Army National Guard have been called to federal active duty for service mostly in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003. Deployment levels peaked in 2004, when more than 3,500 troops assigned to nearly a dozen different units were on duty. About 500 New York National Guard Soldiers are presently serving on active duty. A military police and personnel services detachment recently returned home and a medical company is expected home next month. Over the last year, the New York National Guard has responded to several natural disasters in New York, including last summer’s floods along the Southern Tier, a pre-season winter storm in Western New York last October, a blizzard in February in Central New York, a Nor ’Easter in the Hudson Valley in April and wash outs in the Catskills in June. New York has also sent more than 650 troops over the last year to Arizona to help guard the U.S./ Mexico Border as part of Operation Jump Start. In addition, New York National Guard troops continue to support New York’s civil authorities by helping to protect Grand Central and Penn Stations in Manhattan, Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports in Queens and the state’s four nuclear power sites.