Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
January 6, 2007
By Erin Zlomek, The Arizona Republic
It has been 65 years since the Bushmasters shipped out to the Philippines during World War II, but the storied unit is leaving again today, this time for eventual deployment to Afghanistan.
More than 600 members of the Arizona National Guard's 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment are departing Sky Harbor International Airport this morning for Fort Bragg, N.C., in preparation for a year's overseas deployment.
"It is the largest single deployment from the Arizona National Guard unit since World War II," Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Aguirre said.
The men are from units in and around Maricopa County and are joined in their mission by about 450 Guard troops from the Marana unit who left for Fort Hood, Texas, on Tuesday.
The group likely will land in Afghanistan sometime in the spring, said Command Sgt. Maj. John Bauer.
When that happens, there will be more Arizona Guard troops, both Army and Air Guard, stationed in Afghanistan than in Iraq.
"Most of our unit strength has gone to the Iraq operation up until now," Aguirre said.
With the Dec. 30 execution of Saddam Hussein, Bauer said, many civilians have recently focused on U.S. operations in Iraq. Statewide, that may soon change, he said.
"With the number of soldiers we have from the Arizona National Guard . . . I think, locally, people will probably shift their attention to Afghanistan," Bauer said.
The Guard's primary mission will be to rehabilitate some of the Afghani communities that are trying to adjust to a new government amid ongoing violence, he said.
Since 2005, violence in Afghanistan has increased, according to the Defense Department.
Arizona's deploying soldiers will replace the Connecticut National Guard and help maintain the total of 22,000 service men and women in Afghanistan.
The deploying soldiers gathered Friday morning for a traditional battalion run. Throughout the gray morning, the nearly 600 Guard troops marched in formation, performed drill exercises and ran around the Papago Park Military Reservation as friends and family looked on.
There will be a send-off ceremony today at 6 a.m. in Arizona State University's Wells Fargo Arena.
Formerly the 158th Regimental Combat Team, the unit was last deployed in 1941. The men serving in the unit at that time were sent to train for jungle warfare in Panama before going to war in the Philippines.
The locally famous group was made up mostly of Hispanics and Native Americans, and earned the nickname "Bushmasters" for using machetes to cut through the jungle, said Joseph Abodeely, president of the Arizona National Guard Historical Society.
The park that today's deploying soldiers ran through on Friday was named Bushmaster Field in honor of the group.
Sheila Warren, wife of Maj. Mike Warren, snacked on potato chips and watched their 7-month-old son, Jackson, on Friday while the soldiers ended their morning exercise.
Sheila came to support her husband and to mingle with others seeing their loved ones off.
"It's really important to have a bond with the other families, to have someone you can call and talk to, vent to," she said.
"Nobody else understands what you are going through."
January 6, 2007
By Erin Zlomek, The Arizona Republic
It has been 65 years since the Bushmasters shipped out to the Philippines during World War II, but the storied unit is leaving again today, this time for eventual deployment to Afghanistan.
More than 600 members of the Arizona National Guard's 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment are departing Sky Harbor International Airport this morning for Fort Bragg, N.C., in preparation for a year's overseas deployment.
"It is the largest single deployment from the Arizona National Guard unit since World War II," Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Aguirre said.
The men are from units in and around Maricopa County and are joined in their mission by about 450 Guard troops from the Marana unit who left for Fort Hood, Texas, on Tuesday.
The group likely will land in Afghanistan sometime in the spring, said Command Sgt. Maj. John Bauer.
When that happens, there will be more Arizona Guard troops, both Army and Air Guard, stationed in Afghanistan than in Iraq.
"Most of our unit strength has gone to the Iraq operation up until now," Aguirre said.
With the Dec. 30 execution of Saddam Hussein, Bauer said, many civilians have recently focused on U.S. operations in Iraq. Statewide, that may soon change, he said.
"With the number of soldiers we have from the Arizona National Guard . . . I think, locally, people will probably shift their attention to Afghanistan," Bauer said.
The Guard's primary mission will be to rehabilitate some of the Afghani communities that are trying to adjust to a new government amid ongoing violence, he said.
Since 2005, violence in Afghanistan has increased, according to the Defense Department.
Arizona's deploying soldiers will replace the Connecticut National Guard and help maintain the total of 22,000 service men and women in Afghanistan.
The deploying soldiers gathered Friday morning for a traditional battalion run. Throughout the gray morning, the nearly 600 Guard troops marched in formation, performed drill exercises and ran around the Papago Park Military Reservation as friends and family looked on.
There will be a send-off ceremony today at 6 a.m. in Arizona State University's Wells Fargo Arena.
Formerly the 158th Regimental Combat Team, the unit was last deployed in 1941. The men serving in the unit at that time were sent to train for jungle warfare in Panama before going to war in the Philippines.
The locally famous group was made up mostly of Hispanics and Native Americans, and earned the nickname "Bushmasters" for using machetes to cut through the jungle, said Joseph Abodeely, president of the Arizona National Guard Historical Society.
The park that today's deploying soldiers ran through on Friday was named Bushmaster Field in honor of the group.
Sheila Warren, wife of Maj. Mike Warren, snacked on potato chips and watched their 7-month-old son, Jackson, on Friday while the soldiers ended their morning exercise.
Sheila came to support her husband and to mingle with others seeing their loved ones off.
"It's really important to have a bond with the other families, to have someone you can call and talk to, vent to," she said.
"Nobody else understands what you are going through."