{"id":366979,"date":"2025-02-03T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=366979"},"modified":"2025-02-04T16:12:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T16:12:12","slug":"alaska-guard-deploys-to-eastern-europe-to-support-nato-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=366979","title":{"rendered":"Alaska Guard Deploys to Eastern Europe to Support NATO Allies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Alaska Army National Guard Col. Michele Edwards and Command Sgt. Maj. Russel Throckmorton, the commander and command sergeant major of the 297th Regional Support Group, case the unit colors during a deployment ceremony at the Alaska National Guard Armory on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Jan. 24, 2025. The Alaska Army National Guard\u2019s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 297th RSG, will deploy approximately 80 Guardsmen on a nine-month mission to Eastern Europe to support U.S. Army Europe and Africa\u2019s Operation European Assure, Deter and Reinforce. (Alaska National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount)
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – The Alaska Army National Guard\u2019s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 297th Regional Support Group, will deploy about 80 Guardsmen to Eastern Europe for nine months to support the U.S. Army Europe and Africa\u2019s Operation European Assure, Deter and Reinforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing what our team has accomplished in a short amount of time to prepare for this mobilization and how well we\u2019ve worked together,\u201d said Lt. Col. Sean Pence, the RSG deputy commander. \u201cI commend all the highly motivated Soldiers, many of whom volunteered for this mission. This will be a great opportunity for them to see the world, do their job and perform exceptionally well at the mission they\u2019ve trained for.\u201d<\/p>\n

AKARNG Soldiers will be stationed at 10 bases across Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. They will manage base facility contracts and provide administrative and logistical support for billeting, food service, maintenance, laundry and other base infrastructure.<\/p>\n

U.S. Forces and their allies rely on contractors to maintain military bases and provide service members with essential life support like housing, food, laundry facilities, road maintenance and other services that support the health and welfare of the troops. Military contracting officers ensure the standards outlined in those contracts are met.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re essentially there to support our deployed, rotational U.S. forces and NATO allies who are regularly executing combat training in the region,\u201d Pence said. \u201cWe ensure that those life support requirements are maintained to keep our Soldiers in the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to European and African Command, the objective of operation EADR is to enhance deterrence against potential threats, primarily in Eastern Europe, by regularly rotating U.S. military units to the region to participate in joint training exercises with NATO allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s operational environment is more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous than ever before and the threats the U.S. faces are constantly evolving,\u201d Col. Michele Edwards, RSG commander, said during the Jan. 24 deployment ceremony. \u201cAs Soldiers, I remind you that you are not just stepping into a mission; you are stepping into an environment where our adaptability, resilience and teamwork are essential to our success.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past two years, the RSG has participated in the mobilization exercise at Fort Riley, Kansas, which was designated a primary inactive mobilization force
generation installation in 2021. The purpose of an MFGI is to facilitate large-scale mobilization operations to provide training support, sustainment and facilities that efficiently field units into theaters of operation.<\/p>\n

While at Fort Riley, AKARNG Soldiers received relevant training on supporting base infrastructure and life support requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to develop policies and procedures during our time in Fort Riley that will translate into the skills we will need in Eastern Europe,\u201d Pence said.<\/p>\n

From October through December, the RSG brought their entire team together to conduct the academic, administrative and medical training requirements to be successful while deployed. The RSG conducted hands-on deployment training, such as the Contract Officer\u2019s Representative Training course provided by U.S. Army representatives from Fort Cavazos, Texas. This training represented the bulk of the Soldiers\u2019 responsibilities in Europe.<\/p>\n

Deploying to allied nations enables Soldiers to immerse themselves in diverse cultures, providing a more varied experience than combat-focused Middle Eastern campaigns. These deployments allow service members to strengthen personal and international relationships while gaining new perspectives on global issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a mission like this, we\u2019re really focused on hospitality, networking and relationship building,\u201d said Spc. Kyle Johnson, a military police Soldier assigned to the RSG. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to working alongside our partners overseas and getting a fresh perspective on how to do the job effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwards addressed her Soldiers and their families at the end of the deployment ceremony at the Alaska National Guard Armory on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, emphasizing the need to remain resilient and unified.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoldiers, lean on one another, stay focused, and remain disciplined. Embrace these challenges with courage and confidence, knowing that you are prepared to overcome whatever lies ahead,\u201d she said. \u201cYou are outstanding individual Soldiers, but together our strength is found through unity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Alaska Army National Guard Col. Michele Edwards and Command Sgt. Maj. Russel Throckmorton, the commander and command sergeant major of the 297th Regional Support Group, case the unit colors during a deployment ceremony at the Alaska National Guard Armory on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Jan. 24, 2025. The Alaska Army National Guard\u2019s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366981,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=366979"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":366982,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366979\/revisions\/366982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/366981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=366979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=366979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=366979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}