VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Dozens of Virginia National Guard soldiers are being deployed to Europe.
The Virginia National Guard made the announcement Oct. 18.
This is a deployment the soldiers knew could happen for about a year but is not in response to the fighting happening in the Middle East.
Military
USS Bataan, USS Mesa Verde, USS Carter Hall on the move towards the Red Sea
The soldiers will be doing logistics work.
“I’ve never traveled outside of the country," said Virginia National Guard Spc. Connor Hamilton.
Hamilton is one of about 70 soldiers from the 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion Headquarters, 329th Regional Support Group who will head to Poland in January 2024.
“I feel pretty excited," Hamilton said.
This will be his first deployment.
“I’ve talked with my wife and this is something that we have been prepared for," said Hamilton. "I imagine my mom is going to be helping out. I have one daughter right now, soon to be two daughters.”
The deployment will be Sgt. Marquita Snow’s second.
One difference this time, she said, is the amount of time she had to prepare.
“A lot more time to prepare myself and prepare family, prepare my job even," said Snow.
Knowing she’s about to deploy, she planned to visit family in Mississippi for the holidays.
“Spend some time on my farm and actually get to do some things with my dad and my mom," Snow said. "Crossing off a list, normal holiday things."
Lt. Col. Carlos Maldonado commands the deploying unit.
He said they’ll be in charge of about 500-600 soldiers and said they’ll be relying a lot on a training exercise in Louisiana earlier in the year.
“We completed about 55 missions while at JRTC (Joint Readiness Training Center), covering a large scope of terrain during both night and daytime operations," Maldonado explained.
Important preparation for what will be a lot of important work.
The deployment is expected to last for about a year.
