Combat forces continue to withdraw from Afghanistan, but there's still work to be done.
In the next year, more than 2,000 soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard will be deployed overseas.
The first unit is leaving out of Fort Indiantown Gap Wednesday.
The troops are headed overseas to provide aerial support, and all of them are considered by the federal government to be ‘very strong’ in the field of Apache helicopter operations. Preparation is ‘everything’ in combat, but many find it nearly impossible to prepare to leave loved ones behind.
They are members of the one percent that keep the other 99 percent of us safe. Tuesday is a day, none of them look forward to.
“It's not easy to say goodbye, never is,” stated Sgt. Warren Young, who is leaving for his first stint in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Warren Young will miss his 10-month-old daughter Paisley's first birthday.
“I just keep trying to be strong, not break down,” his wife, an emotional Dawn Young told us.
Inner strength will serve these soldiers and their loved ones well over the next year….
It just doesn't ease the emotional pain, during this Johnstown-based battalion's deployment ceremony.
“I keep telling the kids, mommy's coming home, this is a quick year, next year at this time we'll be going on a vacation,” Sgt. Mary Ellen Enterline relayed.
Wednesday will mark 16 years of service for Sergeant First Class Mary Ellen Enterline. Her patriotism has rubbed off on her sister Jessica, who's also on active duty.
“She takes care of herself and her family, I'm proud of that, that's what I do, take care of mine too,” stated her sister, Jessica Hartenstine.
Tuesday, the soldiers are showing support for their families, in a few short months they'll be using an Apache helicopter to support troops on the ground in Afghanistan. Utilization of Apache helicopters is this brigade's forte.
That makes their confidence level sky high, but sometimes the best support systems never leave the ground.
“I look at our soldiers as the treasure of our nation, but I'll also say it's the family members who make these soldiers who they are,” concluded Colonel Wood.
The troops are expected to return home in August of next year, a date that, senior officials tell us, is expected to ‘stick’ unlike past years and regardless of what happens in the White House in November.
In the next year, more than 2,000 soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard will be deployed overseas.
The first unit is leaving out of Fort Indiantown Gap Wednesday.
The troops are headed overseas to provide aerial support, and all of them are considered by the federal government to be ‘very strong’ in the field of Apache helicopter operations. Preparation is ‘everything’ in combat, but many find it nearly impossible to prepare to leave loved ones behind.
They are members of the one percent that keep the other 99 percent of us safe. Tuesday is a day, none of them look forward to.
“It's not easy to say goodbye, never is,” stated Sgt. Warren Young, who is leaving for his first stint in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Warren Young will miss his 10-month-old daughter Paisley's first birthday.
“I just keep trying to be strong, not break down,” his wife, an emotional Dawn Young told us.
Inner strength will serve these soldiers and their loved ones well over the next year….
It just doesn't ease the emotional pain, during this Johnstown-based battalion's deployment ceremony.
“I keep telling the kids, mommy's coming home, this is a quick year, next year at this time we'll be going on a vacation,” Sgt. Mary Ellen Enterline relayed.
Wednesday will mark 16 years of service for Sergeant First Class Mary Ellen Enterline. Her patriotism has rubbed off on her sister Jessica, who's also on active duty.
“She takes care of herself and her family, I'm proud of that, that's what I do, take care of mine too,” stated her sister, Jessica Hartenstine.
Tuesday, the soldiers are showing support for their families, in a few short months they'll be using an Apache helicopter to support troops on the ground in Afghanistan. Utilization of Apache helicopters is this brigade's forte.
That makes their confidence level sky high, but sometimes the best support systems never leave the ground.
“I look at our soldiers as the treasure of our nation, but I'll also say it's the family members who make these soldiers who they are,” concluded Colonel Wood.
The troops are expected to return home in August of next year, a date that, senior officials tell us, is expected to ‘stick’ unlike past years and regardless of what happens in the White House in November.