Press Release Index
CONTACT: Sgt. First Class James Shear, at 518-220-4104 or (email) james.j.shear2.mil@mail.mil
FOR RELEASE: Sunday, Feb 25, 2018

Glenville-based Ordnance Soldiers mobilize for deployment to Afghanistan on Sunday, Feb. 25th

SCOTIA-GLENVILLE, N.Y. (02/24/2018) (readMedia)-- Nineteen New York Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 501st Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) will hold a mobilization ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 25th as they prepare to depart for a deployment to Afghanistan.

WHO: Nineteen New York Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 501st Ordnance Battalion. The Soldiers will provide mission command of the United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Command in Afghanistan.

WHAT: A mobilization and deployment ceremony held at the Scotia Glenville Armed Forces Reserve Center for the Soldiers and their family members. The Soldiers will depart for training at Fort Bliss, Texas and are expected to deploy for nine months in Bagram, Afghanistan, following their post mobilization training.

WHEN: 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25th, 2018

WHERE: Scotia Glenville Armed Forces Reserve Center, 251 Rudy Chase Drive, Glenville, N.Y. 12302

Media should contact Sgt. First Class James Shear, at 518-220-4104 or (email) james.j.shear2.mil@mail.mil for access to this secure military facility.

Coverage Opportunities:

Imagery opportunities include the ceremony, and Soldiers interacting with family members. There will be opportunities to interview leaders, Soldiers and families.

BACKGROUND:

501st Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal):

Based at the Glenville Armed Forces Reserve Center the 501st EOD battalion is a headquarters unit which is able to take control of two to five Explosive Ordnance Disposal companies in a combat zone.

The 501st is the higher headquarters for the New York Army National Guard's 1108th EOD Company, also based at the Glenville Armed Forces Reserve Center, along with EOD companies in Greenville, North Carolina, Camp Edward, Massachusetts, Camp Dawson, West Virginia, and Camp Grayling, Michigan.

The 501st Ordnance Battalion deployed to Iraq in the fall of 2010, serving there for nine months. During the battalion's deployment in Iraq the unit was responsible for counter-IED operations in nine provinces of southern Iraq, a region of about 81,000-square miles.

This includes the main north-south highway known to the Military as MSR (Main Supply Route) Tampa, which is the road that U.S. military supplies and Soldiers entered and left Iraq over.

The 501st traces its roots back to the New York National Guard's historic 105th Infantry Regiment, known as the "Appleknockers," because historically the Soldiers of the regiment worked in the apple orchards of the Hudson Valley as civilians.

The regiment fought in World War I and World War II before converting to an EOD battalion in 2005.

The 501st also serves as the higher headquarters for the New York Army National Guard's 1427th Transportation Company and 466th Area Medical Company.

© NYS DMNA Press Release:Glenville-based Ordnance Soldiers mobilize for deployment to Afghanistan on Sunday, Feb. 25th
URL: https://dmna.ny.gov/pressroom/?id=1519653725
44.222.225.12
Page Last Modified: Feb 26, 2018