WINDSOR LOCKS–About 90 soldiers left Bradley International Airport Sunday morning for Texas, where they will continue training.
Maj. Gen. Thaddeus J. Martin, who is the adjunct general and commanding officer of the Connecticut National Guard, says the 143rd Regional Support Group and the 192nd Military Police were sent to mobilization stations in Texas, and from there the soldiers will be deployed for tours of duty that will last nine to 12 months.
“Deploying two units simultaneously is no easy task, especially when the missions are so different,” said Maj. Gen. Martin. “This is a testament to the hard work and training these units have done to ready themselves to be successful.”
About 35 members of the 143rd Regional Support Group, a Middletown-based unit commanded by Col. John Wiltse of Berlin, will provide command, control and administration to all base life support operations from a post in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, about 55 members of the Niantic-based 192nd Military Police, which is commanded by Lt. Col. Paul Dean of Hamden, will head to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to support detainee operations.
The 143rd Regional Support Group will make history with its deployment as the unit was alerted less than two months before its mobilization, an unprecedented amount of time. Most National Guard units get 18 to 24 months to prepare before mobilization.
This is the Regional Support Group’s third deployment; in 2004 the unit went to Baghdad, Iraq to support the U.S. Embassy and in 2009 some members of the unit served as logistical advisers to the Iraqi Army at multiple locations.
This is the second deployment for the 192nd Military Police. The unit first deployed in 2009 to Iraq to perform detainee operations. That mission’s duties were similar to the ones the unit will have in Cuba.
