FORT BLISS, Texas - The 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, Florida Army National Guard, completed a nine-month mission in Djibouti and the Horn of Africa, returning here in three waves before completing the demobilization process with the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security here. Soldiers arrived at the Silas L. Copeland Arrival/Departure Airfield Control Group May 21, May 27 and June 5 and have returned home in three chocks as they finished requirements here.
"The lion's share of what we did was security forces for Camp Lemonnier and Chabelley Airfield, (Djibouti) and Camp Simba which is down in Manda Bay, Kenya," said Maj. Jeremy Hopkins, executive officer, 2nd Bn., 124th Inf. Regt. "We were also responsible for the command and control of the East African Response Force, which (provides) force augmentation for embassies in the Horn of Africa. We sent Soldiers all over the region as missions arose."
The battalion took on a unique deployment after completing deployments to the Middle East in their prior mobilizations.
"The experience is definitely a once in a lifetime situation, to go to Africa and Djibouti as a whole," said Sgt. George Kouroumousis, rifleman, Company A, 2nd Bn., 124th Inf. Regt., who completed a deployment to Iraq with the battalion in 2010.
The nontraditional chain of command allowed many in the battalion to take on more challenging roles.
"We worked specifically for the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Our battalion worked directly for operational control … there was no brigade level command in between," Hopkins said. "I learned more about being an executive office in the first month being there than in the first two years of being one. It was a huge opportunity to grow and learn how the Army and Department of Defense work, but also how it integrates with the Department of State … and to integrate with different sister services and partners. From that perspective it was very successful."
Camp Lemonnier is home to other branches and foreign countries which allowed for opportunities to interact and learn from each other in a professional capacity.
"We partnered with a number of different countries there -- the French, Italian, British," said Hopkins. "We spent a lot of time with the French doing the French Desert Commander Course and invited them partake in our Expert Infantryman Badge competition."
Living and working on the same compound, Soldiers also got to come together with foreign nations and build relations not only while in uniform, but also in a relaxed environment as well.
"I can't say too much about training with them, but we did play soccer with the French, Italians, Germans and Japanese -- their tactics on the soccer field were pretty good," said Pfc. Brent Barker, gunner, 2nd Bn., 124th Inf. Regt. "Absolutely it was cool to interact with Soldiers from across the world."
While the battalion completed comprehensive training for this mission, one aspect to the training that they could not prepare for was the location they would be working.
"As a first deployment it did go well, but getting used to the environment was probably the hardest thing to do," Barker said. "Environment as is the heat, definitely the heat."
"Other service members on Lemonnier were, 'You guys are Florida National Guard, so you are used to this heat. It may be hot in Florida, but it's not that hot," Kourourmousis said.
"Djibouti, Somalia and a spot in Ethiopia are considered the hottest places that are inhabited on earth," Hopkins said. "The humidity is awful and the heat is just brutal."
After nine months in the Horn of Africa, Soldiers of 2nd Bn., 124th Inf. Regt. are ready to return to their native environment and cool summer nights of the Sunshine State.
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