PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (7/29/2009) - The old clichAfA of "I'm going to Disneyworld!" rings true for one Army National Guard officer who just returned from Iraq. Maj. Joseph Paladino of the COARNG Army Space Support Team 27, Company 217, 117th Space Support Battalion 'Space Cowboys', really is going to Disneyworld along with his family sometime during his leave over the next few months and he's happy to be home with his loved ones.
"It feels great to be back," he said. "I'll be spending a lot of time with my family."
Paladino and five other Soldiers made up Army Space Support Team 27 and were deployed to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, from December 2008 to July 2009. They supported the 1st and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force by "exploiting space technologies and bringing them to the war fighter," said Maj. Paladino. "ARSST was responsible for the detailed and operational planning of dissemination of over 1,800 space enabling products to all levels of the Multi-National Force-West (military command under Marine control) Command Elements enabling successful execution of combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq."
The team also carried out a successful counter-improvised explosive device (IED) program that incorporated space-based imagery which led to the most likely location of an IED cell. Using this analysis, a cordon and search was conducted at suspected sites that led to the apprehension of one insurgent, the identification of a second suspect and a cache of IED building materials that included a 130mm artillery round, five feet of Russian detonation cord, two high-power cordless phone base stations with receivers and a roll of copper wire. A secondary search of the site discovered a sniper rifle with scope, an AK-47 assault rifle, five empty magazines and more than 100 7.62mm rounds.
"IEDs still happen to be a threat there, but a lot of the other threats are gone," Maj. Paladino said. "Things have definitely calmed down a lot."
Paladino deployed to the country in 2003 with the Army's 4th Infantry Division when he was on active duty and said that along with the obvious reduction in the threat level and overall violence in the country, the amenities for troops on U.S. bases increased tenfold.
Paladino said he slept on the hood of his Humvee and showered with a 5-gallon bag that he held over his head in 2003.
"This time I had an air conditioned trailer, hot showers, a chow hall and MWR (morale welfare and recreation) out the yin-yang," Paladino said. "It was a complete turnaround."
Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Flora, the satellite communications non-commissioned officer-in-charge on the team added that as well as counter-IED operations, AARST 27 - with the aid of civilian Provisional Reconstruction Teams - helped farmers gain access to water through the introduction of imagery to aide in the identification of water features for use in the supply of water to different methods of crop production (i.e. center-pivot irrigation systems).
"It was rewarding," Flora said of the deployment. "We played a big part in the hand-over of the cities to the Iraqis. We did a good job with a shorter deployment and everyone was safe and sound."
Social Sharing