FORT HARRISON, Mont. -- A mobilization ceremony was held Oct. 6 to say goodbye to about 50 Soldiers of the 652nd Regional Support Group, a U.S. Army Reserve unit headquartered here.
The Soldiers have trained for mobilization over the past several months to identify what they did well and what needed improvement.
Preparation included annual training at Fort McCoy, Wis. There, the unit role-played scenarios as if it were deployed.
"We tried to simulate what we would be doing over in [Afghanistan]," said Spc. Jessica Dusseljee, a human resources specialist with the 652nd RSG.
"It was interesting. It was everybody trying to figure out what everybody else was doing and coordinating with each other," she said. "We made sure that each directorate would be able to fulfill their job."
The 652nd's Soldiers are confident they will succeed overseas.
"They're unbelievable professionals, from the officers to the enlisted. They all know their job extremely well," said Maj. William Glaspey, a facilities management construction contract engineer with the 652nd RSG.
"Whenever I've seen a challenge come their way, they can figure it out and get the mission accomplished, and that's what we're going to be doing overseas," he said.
Among the group of deploying Soldiers were three with the same last name. The Skillmans -- Master Sgt. Dan, Master Sgt. Lola, and Sgt. Jaymes -- are deploying together. Dan and Jaymes have deployed before, to Iraq; this is Lola's first deployment.
The friends and families of the Soldiers in the 652nd RSG said their goodbyes and wished them good luck as the unit boarded the buses for Fort Hood, Texas, their last stop before Afghanistan. The 652nd will undergo several weeks of post-mobilization training before heading overseas.
The 652nd, a subordinate unit of the 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, Marysville, Wash., will be conduct base support operations in Kandahar, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
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