BOTHELL, Wash. -- Warrior-Citizens from the 380th Adjutant General Battalion, an Army Reserve unit here, were honored in a ceremony Oct. 13 after a yearlong mobilization to Joint Base Dix-McGuire-Lakehurst, N.J.
"The Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen ceremony is a small measure to recognize our soldiers who willingly answered their nation's call to war," said Lt. Col. Erik Benson, the 380th's commander.
The mission of the unit's 17 Soldiers during their time at JBDML was to prepare mobilized National Guard and Army Reserve troops for deployment in support of current operations.
"Our mission didn't stop for anything," said Spc. Kevin Antonio Jones, a signal support systems specialist with the unit. "It was like the walls were breathing; nothing ever stopped.
"We worked through power outages, fire alarms and hurricane warnings; our unit got every Soldier we were responsible for into JBDML and out on their way toward their missions," Jones added.
According to Staff Sgt. Charles A. McCreary, a movement NCO with the 380th, the battalion helped move nearly 7,000 Soldiers into OEF's theater of operations.
"Our mission was a complete success; it was an art of finesse maintaining accountability of these Soldiers until they were in the air. However, our mission was still completely routine and was something that everyone in our unit has done before," McCreary said.
"We successfully got our Army's warfighters on their planes to go to theater because we came together and worked as a unit to accomplish our mission," McCreary said.
The Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen Award was established in December 2004 as a way to thank Army Reserve Soldiers and their families for the sacrifices they experience during mobilization and deployment, and to thank them for their service to the country in a time of war.
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