Families and friends dressed in red, white and blue filled the 39th Brigade headquarters in North Little Rock to see off 21 Arkansas National Guardsmen for a nine-month mission Thursday morning.
Among them, Shannan Rozenberg, who watched through tears the brief deployment ceremony for the troops heading to Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
It comforted Rozenberg to know that her husband's mission, his third deployment, is a noncombat one. Nonetheless, it was difficult to say goodbye.
"It's still not easy," she said.
Thursday's sendoff marked the final installment of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team's three-part deployment this spring. The 130 soldiers will support the Kosovo Force, an ongoing NATO peacekeeping mission that began in response to the end of the war between the Serbian government and its autonomous province of Kosovo.
The initial purpose of the mission was to help that nation recover from the conflict by relocating displaced people, removing mines, providing medical assistance, protecting ethnic minorities and supporting the establishment of civilian government. Now, the mission's purpose is to maintain peace across the Balkans.
Brig. Gen. Kirk Van Pelt told the soldiers that their work will continue to stabilize the region.
"The peace and support operations that you are about to undertake will be instrumental in maintaining the local security and to ensure the safety of the citizens of Kosovo for the next year," Van Pelt said.
Kosovo Force involves roughly 4,500 military members from 29 countries, according to the mission's website.
Thirty Arkansas National Guardsmen were sent May 8, and 80 were sent May 29, Lt. Col. Joel Lynch said. They serve as the headquarters staff in Kosovo, while the troops sent off Thursday will work in training, advisory, supply and administration.
In addition to the 21 at the ceremony, two soldiers from the same brigade have already been sent over for training, and four are completing a postal mission in Germany, Lt. Col. Miriam Carlisle said.
"We're going to do this mission, and we're going to be back soon," Carlisle told the families. "Sooner than you think. I hope."
The troops fly today to Fort Bliss in Texas for training before splitting up to leave for either Pristina, Kosovo, or Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Van Pelt thanked the families for their sacrifices.
"It's your love and support that allow these soldiers to do what they do to serve our country and our nation," he said.
Toddlers in their mothers' laps waved small American flags. One soldier put his arm around his wife. His young son, sitting on the other side, grabbed his hand from behind the chair.
The Arkansas National Guard drills one weekend a month, so most of the members deployed Thursday have full-time jobs. Rozenberg's husband will leave his job as a school superintendent in Bearden.
Living in a town with fewer than 1,000 people an hour and a half from Little Rock, Rozenberg isn't part of a family support group. But this deployment will be easier than past ones, she said, because she'll be able to video chat with her husband every day. She also knows it's what her husband is meant to do.
"He could have retired 10 years ago, but he loves it," Rozenberg said. "He's going where he needs to go. He needs to do his part."
Metro on 06/23/2017
