Kentucky Army National Guard Public Affairs Office
Carrollton Army National Guard unit deploys for Operation Enduring Freedom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                   

          WHO:      Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery

          WHAT:    Departure ceremony

          WHEN:    5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, 2006

          WHERE:  Carroll County High School gymnasium, 1706 Highland Ave., Carrollton
                          Ky., 41008  

CARROLLTON, Ky. – The citizens of Carrollton will have the opportunity to bid farewell to 167 Kentucky Army National Guard soldiers deploying to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom.

The departure ceremony for the soldiers of  Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery will take place at 5 p.m. on Saturday Oct. 14, 2006 at the Carroll County High School gymnasium. The public is invited to attend this event.

The unit will report to Fort Dix, N.J., where they will under go several weeks of training prior to deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The soldiers of Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery will be tasked with providing convoy security and force protection while stationed in Afghanistan.

“We’ve been training for this mission since early May, and the training we received at the Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center was very beneficial,” said Company Commander, Captain Shaune Jones.

“Alpha Battery would like to thank our families and our community for all the support they’ve shown as we embark on this deployment,” he said. “We’re trained and ready.”

Previous mobilizations for  the soldiers of  Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery  include a 2003 deployment  to Fort Campbell, Ky. to provide security for the military installation as part of Operation Noble Eagle. In 1990, a number of individual unit members volunteered and deployed to the Persian Gulf for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In the late 1960s the entire unit deployed to Vietnam where it served a year-long tour providing artillery fire support for US combat operations.

MEDIA ACCESS:  Journalists are encouraged to arrive early at this event in order to arrange interviews with soldiers and their families before the ceremony begins. 

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EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

1.  FOR ACCURACY, THE PROPER NAMES OF THE AFFECTED UNITS ARE INDICATED ABOVE IN BOLD PRINT AND UNDERLINED.

2..  The term "weekend warrior" is considered archaic and inappropriate when describing the soldiers and airmen of the National Guard. Proper terminology (per the Associated Press Stylebook) includes: "National Guard," "Air National Guard," "Army National Guard," "Kentucky National Guard," the "Guard," "National Guard troops," "National Guardsman," or when alone, "guardsman." Also accurate are "soldier" and "troops.”

3.  Operation NOBLE EAGLE is the homeland security mission inside the continental United States. Operation IRAQI Freedom refers to operations in Iraq while Operation ENDURING Freedom refers to Afghanistan.