Contact: Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office
Office: 608-242-3079
Gov. Scott Walker and senior Wisconsin National Guard leaders will join family and friends in sending off nearly 30 Soldiers from Detachment one, Company B, 248th General Aviation Support Battalion at a 3 p.m. ceremony Sept. 30, at the West Bend National Guard Armory at 125 Chopper Dr., in West Bend, Wisconsin.
The West Bend-based unit will deploy to the Middle East in support of Operation Spartan Shield with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter maintenance personnel.
The deploying Soldiers have trained extensively for this deployment, focusing on aircraft maintenance and standard soldiering skills.
Soldiers from the 248th have deployed overseas multiple times in support of military operations since Sept. 11, 2001, including in 2010-11 to Iraq and 2006-07 to Kosovo.
The Wisconsin National Guard continues to play an active role in global security operations as a critical component of the nation’s primary combat reserve. Approximately 270 Airmen from the 115th Fighter Wing deployed to Korea in August, while 110 Airmen from the 128th Air Control Squadron deployed to Southwest Asia in May, and approximately 150 Soldiers from the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation deployed to Kuwait last spring. Another 35 Soldiers from the West Bend-based Company C, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation deployed to Afghanistan last winter.
The Wisconsin National Guard simultaneously remains ready to execute its other primary mission as the first military responder in the homeland. Approximately 650 Wisconsin National Guard troops recently returned from Florida where they provided humanitarian relief, security and traffic control support to communities in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Another team from the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing recently deployed to Puerto Rico to assist in hurricane relief efforts there.
