REPORT FROM THE HAWAI NATIONAL GUARD – Soldiers from Company B, 777th Aviation Support Battalion will be deploying to Kosovo in support of NATO operations. A departure ceremony will be held at Wheeler Army Airfield on Friday, July 6 at 10 a.m.
More than 40 soldiers have been mobilized on Title 10 active duty for approximately one year. The mission of the Company B, 777 soldiers will be to repair and maintain Blackhawk helicopters operating in and around Kosovo. Most of the soldiers have previous deployment experience. The helicopter maintenance unit was mobilized in 2003 for service in Afghanistan.
Operation Joint Guardian has been in effect since 1999 when U.S. led-NATO forces began providing assistance to Kosovo-Albanian refugees. More than 6,000 military personnel remain in Kosovo and nearby countries providing security and stability in a part of Europe still recovering from ethnic violence and war.
State Adjutant General Darryll D.M. Wong and Brigadier General Gary M. Hara, along with members of the HIARNG, will attend the ceremony.
Hawaiian soldiers deployed in Kosovo? Oh the irony.
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