Currently browsing: Opelika

AU veterinarians deploying to Afghanistan

Printed in yesterday’s Opelika-Auburn News:

The veterinarians at Auburn University take care of dogs every day.

But in August they will be traveling thousands of miles to do so – in Afghanistan.

Three AU professors are among the members of the 358 Medical Detachment, a veterinarian unit of the U.S. Army Reserves, that will be deployed to Afghanistan in August.

Their mission is to take care of military animals, inspect food and help the Afghan people with agriculture reconstruction, said Capt. Brad Fields, veterinary medical officer with the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.

“So just making sure the food our service members eat … is safe and wholesome and free of adulterants,” he said. “And that it has been inspected and is not going to harm any soldiers.

“We want to know every ingredient that goes into the product. We want to have a real tight control of what the troops are eating.”

While there, Fields said the unit will inspect facilities that prepare the food and inspect the foods themselves “even if they have been inspected in this country (America).”

But it’s the opportunity to work with military animals that excites Fields the most.

“I love the dogs,” he said. “I love working with the handlers. The human-animal bond is amazing. Because the soldiers are with the dogs … They’re (the dogs) just another soldier.”

Capt. Soren Rodning is looking forward to helping the Afghan people with agricultural reconstruction.

This is Rodning’s first deployment since joining the U.S. Army Reserves about two years ago.

He said he is feeling “a little bit anxious and a little bit excited.”

The unit’s deployment will last for about a year.

Bama Guard unit deploys to Iraq; another heading out later this week

Posted to Breaking News at The Birmingham News:

About 50 members of the an Alabama Army National Guard unit that specializes in explosive ordnance disposal have deployed to Iraq and a transportation unit with about 170 soldiers is slated to arrive there shortly.

The 111th Ordnance Group from Opelika arrived down range last week. While in Iraq, the 111th will head up Combined Joint Task Force Troy, which coordinates and oversees efforts to counter improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, throughout the country. Task Force Troy will oversee 600 to 800 U.S. troops involved in anti-IED operations, and several dozen of those troops are soldiers with one of the 111th’s subordinate units, the 441st Ordnance Battalion out of Huntsville.

Meanwhile, state Guard public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Cynthia Bachus, said the 2101st Transportation Company out of Demopolis, Aliceville and Butler is now in Kuwait and will be moving into Iraq soon. The upcoming tour will be the second one for about a third of the unit’s soldiers. The first was in 2004-05.

This morning, the commander of an Alabama Guard military police unit said in an e-mail Sunday’s national elections went smoothly in his unit’s southern sector of Iraq.

“The Iraqi Security Forces did a great job executing the security plan that they established for the province,” said Lt. Col. Charles
Buxton, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 203rd Military Police Battalion, now based in Basra Province.

Soldiers with the Athens-based 203rd have helped train Iraqi police and did pre-election assessments to improve security at 20 critical polling places throughout the province.

Through last December, according to the latest Pentagon figures, more than 4,700 Alabamians were deployed in and around Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bama Guard unit to deploy on anti-explosive mission in Iraq

Posted today in The Birmingham News:

Bomb attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq have been going down, but bombers appear to be focusing more on Iraqi security forces, government officials, and civilians.

An Alabama National Guard unit will be deploying to Iraq in less than a month and one of its main jobs will be to train Iraqis in bomb detection, disposal, and other related measures to make their country more secure.

A send-off ceremony was held today for about 50 members of the 111th Ordinance Group from Opelika. The unit’s specialty is explosive ordinance disposal and in Iraq it will head up Joint Task Force Troy, which coordinates and oversees anti-IED efforts throughout Iraq. IED stands for Improvised Explosive Devices, which killed or wounded many U.S. soldiers during much of the Iraq war.

“We are the fight against the IED,” said Col. Jose Atencio III, of Florence, the 111th commanding officer.

The task force will oversee 600 to 800 U.S. troops involved in anti-IED operations throughout Iraq. Several dozen of those troops are soldiers with one of the 111th’s subordinate units, the 441st Ordinance Battalion out of Huntsville.

Atencio said that the task force will be working closely with Iraqi security forces because U.S. forces are drawing down in Iraq and are no longer leading the anti-IED efforts around the country.

“We have got to transfer the capability and the capacity over to the Iraqi military, federal police, and the police to give them the ability to counter (IEDs) once we are gone,” Atencio said.

The 111th’s command sergeant major, Gerald Miller, of Helena, said the unit has a lot of soldiers with expertise who had previous deployments – some as far back as Desert Storm.

The 111th soldiers leave Wednesday for Camp Shelby, Miss., where they will spend about three weeks in final training before deploying.

Opelika Army transport due home next week

Per the Patriot Guard Riders:

After a year in the sand box, the 1206th Transport Unit out of Opelika, Alabama will be making their return trip home June 13th, and have requested the PGR escort them home. The PGR proudly escorted this Unit to Ft. Bragg North Carolina, with escort through Georgia and then North Carolina took them into Ft Bragg. Please join us in welcoming home these true American Heroes that will once again be reunited with their loved ones and their community.

Coverage from Opelika-Auburn News:

The city of Opelika will hold a homecoming ceremony on June 13 to celebrate the return of the 206th Transportation Company Army reserve unit following a yearlong tour in Iraq.

The event will be held in front of the Veterans Memorial Monument at the Opelika City Hall at 204 S. 7th St. and is open to the public.

The celebration will begin after the troops arrive in town on buses, which is expected to be between 8 and 8:30 p.m., Opelika Community Relations Specialist Jan Gunter said.

Welcome home, heroes!!