A farewell convoy and ceremony for the Headquarters Company and the Forward Support Company will take place Thursday morning in Willmar. The convoy will begin at 9 a.m. and leave from the National Guard Armory along Business 71 North.
The public is encouraged to gather along the route of the convoy to wish the soldiers well and to attend the ceremony afterward in the Willmar Senior High School gym.
The convoy will include military vehicles carrying the 150 soldiers to be deployed. They will be escorted by Patriot Guard motorcycles and the Willmar Police and Fire departments. The convoy will travel north to the Flags of Honor display and then turn to go south along First Street to the Highway 71/23 bypass.
The convoy will take the bypass to U.S. Highway 12, where it will exit and travel north on Kandiyohi County Road 9 to the high school.
The deployment ceremony will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in the gym at Willmar Senior High School. High school choir students will provide music, and a number of military VIPs are expected. After the ceremony, the soldiers will have a couple days off before leaving for Fort Bliss, Texas, for training.
Last month, the soldiers spent a Friday of their drill weekend receiving and packing new gear for overseas, including uniforms with a different camouflage pattern.
The Headquarters Company and the Forward Support Company will be the first units to be deployed from the Willmar Armory. Other units of the battalion have deployed, but they have not been based in Willmar. Individual guard members from Willmar have deployed with other units, too.
The units will be deployed to Kuwait and will be joined by subordinate companies from other parts of the country to form a large engineering battalion, said Lt. Col. Keith Ferdon of Motley. He is the battalion commander and will be on his fourth deployment.
While based in Kuwait, “we will support U.S. soldiers wherever they are deployed in the Middle East,” he said. The deployment includes companies for “horizontal” and “vertical” engineering, “so we can build roads and buildings,” he said. “The busier we are, the faster it will go.”
Capt. Mike Lovas of Maple Grove, who leads the Headquarters Company, referred to the preparation activities as “organized chaos,” as members picked up their new gear and went about packing it and personal items into their allotted luggage of four duffel bags and a rucksack.
The personal items included are largely up to the service members. Many people bring blankets, pillows, alarm clocks, towels, civilian clothes and electronic devices, said Capt. Michael Buchan of St. Paul, who leads the Forward Support Company.
“Myself, I’m going to bring a French press coffee maker, so I can drink good coffee,” Buchan said.
Lovas said he has suggested people purchase a device called Magic Jack. It plugs into a computer and makes it easier for soldiers and families to call each other.
The USO’s United Through Reading Program is a big help for children, Lovas said. The program records a DVD of a soldier reading a book to his or her kids. The DVD and the book are sent to the family. “The first thing my son said was, ‘you’re going to send me books, right Dad,’” he said.
The troops were packing for the long term, as they wouldn’t see their bags until they arrive in Kuwait, Ferdon said.
The ages of the soldiers deploying ranges from 19 to 54, Ferdon said. They represent 99 different communities across the state.
The majority of them enlisted after 9/11, “after we went to war,” he said, and a deployment isn’t a surprise to them.
Lovas said the people deploying are a mix of first-timers and those who have gone overseas before. The soldiers with experience have offered advice and helped the others.
Many of those deploying have spouses and children. “One of the hardest parts is worrying about family back here,” Ferdon said. The soldiers will have meals prepared for them and will be busy doing their jobs. Families at home could be more likely to face unexpected problems like broken water heaters and leaky roofs, he said.
While Skype and email can help soldiers and families stay connected, they still enjoy hearing from people the old-fashioned way, Ferdon said. Care packages and “real letters” are always appreciated, he added.
