More local National Guardsmen prepare for deployment
Approximately 200 area members of the National Guard are preparing for deployment in eastern Europe and at four military bases in Pennsylvania, as call-ups continue for the state’s civilian soldiers. According to Maj. Ros Gammon, military personnel from Waynesburg, Canonsburg, Mount Pleasant, Greensburg and Indiana are being prepared for deployment to Kosovo in Eastern Europe and at the state’s four Air Force bases, including the 171st Air National Guard Air Refueling Wing installation at Pittsburgh International Airport.
“Right now, they’re doing administrative checks, their records checks and within the next two or three weeks, they’ll being doing medical screenings,” said Gammon of the approximately 100 soldiers preparing for an early summer departure for Kosovo.
The mission is part of the ongoing peacekeeping effort in the region, according to Maj. General Walter F. Pudlowski Jr., commander of the National Guard’s 28th Division.
“The mission in Kosovo will be the same as it is in Bosnia,” said Pudlowski.
Before their departure, the soldiers will undergo a three-month training period in preparation for the mission.
The 28th Division is overseeing the NATO multinational force in neighboring Bosnia/Herzegovina and will assume the command at Brigade East in Kosovo from the 1st Infantry Division of Germany.
The Pennsylvania National Guard is the most deployed Guard in the nation, with 3,800 members supporting peacekeeping missions and the war against terrorism.
The deployment of the soldiers to Kosovo, added Pudlowski, is not related to the military build-up in the Persian Gulf region, but a continuing effort to assist with stabilizing the region.
In addition to the peacekeeping forces, other division soldiers are providing security at U.S. military installations in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Approximately 40 soldiers attached to the Connellsville Armory are completing a six-month rotation in Germany and Italy and are expected to return home within the next two weeks.
Two other Connellsville-based soldiers, Sgt. Brian Tasker and Sgt. Sean Pulig, are part of the peacekeeping force in Bosnia.
Gammon, meanwhile, said approximately 50 soldiers attached to the Mount Pleasant Armory will be mobilized at the air bases to replace soldiers that have been on-duty for nearly a year.