The Washington National Guard this week is bringing home one group of soldiers from Afghanistan while sending a unit of military police on its way for a deployment to the war.
The returning soldiers spent the past year advising Afghan security forces in small teams spread across remote parts of the country’s northern borders. Three of the 30 soldiers in the guard’s so-called stability transition teams suffered serious injuries in different attacks on their outposts in February and April.
The National Guard said the soldiers “survived and are recovering well.”
“The Washington National Guard family is happy to have the (security transition teams) back home. They are consummate professionals who made a difference in the lives and abilities of their Afghan counterparts,” said Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, commander of the Washington National Guard.
On Sunday, the guard held a departure ceremony for 50 soldiers in the 506th Military Police Detachment who soon will leave for their deployment. Their assignment in Afghanistan calls on them to do law enforcement investigations, the National Guard said.
The soldiers are headed to their final training at Fort Bliss, Texas. They’ll leave for Afghanistan from there and return home in the summer.
The military police detachment previously deployed to Iraq from May 2007 to June 2008.
adam.ashton@thenewstribune.com
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