WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass.-- Approximately 120 Army Reserve Soldiers assigned to the 344th Military Police Company, 382d Military Police Battalion, 302d Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, returned home to plenty of happy tears and hugs during a Welcome Home Warriors Ceremony held here Feb. 11, 2014.
Majority of the Soldiers are from the Bay State and about 50 others from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. The 344th redeployed units consisted of two detachments based in Watertown, Conn., and Worcester, Mass.
Army Reserve Brig. Gen. James T. Williams, commander of 302d MEB, 412th Theater Engineer Command, and Air Force Brig. Gen. Steven Vautrain, commander of 439th Airlift Wing, were on hand to welcome home company commander Capt. Gregory Durant and his troops and to personally thank them and their Families for their honorable service and sacrifice.
Durant and his troops spent almost a year in Afghanistan assisting with detainee operations.
"I refuse to not tell everyone what a ridiculously great job you all did over the course of this deployment," he said during his remarks.
"We crushed it, we absolutely crushed it," said the Canton, Mass., native in reference to their mission.
"It was easy to forget that every decision we made on a daily basis had direct implications on the overall safety and security of all U.S. Soldiers serving throughout Afghanistan. Minor lapses of good judgment could have resulted in an international incident. But even with all of the frustrations and distractions, we had zero lapses of good judgment, each Soldier used common sense, made the right decisions, treated everyone with respect and remained the constant professionals that you know us to be," he said proudly of his Soldiers.
"One thing that everyone in this formation knows for certain is that we completed our mission, we kept our integrity and we did it better than everyone else there," he said.
The company commander also recognized the unit?'s Family Readiness Group leaders, Samantha Micalizzi and Samantha Eshner, for their assistance and support of Soldiers?' Families during the course of their deployment.
"On a personal note, I want to thank all of the parents, spouses, significant others, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and everyone else who helped make us who we are. The Army (Reserve) trained us, but you are what make us," Durant concluded.
In recognition of their accomplishments in Afghanistan, the 344th was presented a Meritorious Unit Commendation Award, nine Soldiers awarded the Bronze Star Medal, and 109 awarded the Army Commendation Medal.
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