FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- A deployment ceremony was held Aug. 11 at Army Community Service for the Soldiers and Family members of the 591st Medical Logistics Company.
The 90 Soldiers from the 591st will be attached to the 62nd Medical Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash.
"We are currently in our ninth year of major combat operations in this Global War on Terror, making this the third longest war in American history after the Revolutionary War and the war in Vietnam," said guest speaker Col. Bruce McVeigh, commander of the First Medical Brigade at Fort Hood. "This is the first extended conflict to be fought with an all-volunteer force.
"That is just what these Soldiers have done, they have volunteered to go forward and provide critical medical support when needed at what is still a very critical time in Afghanistan's future," he said. "We are at the height of the U.S. troop surge there and our medical support is now needed more than ever."
The 591st MEDLOG Company will provide corps-level medical units and Joint Task Force customers with packaging and shipping of medical supply items, as well as optical fabrication and medical maintenance to the First Cavalry Division.
"Our volunteer force and these Soldiers standing before you are truly a national treasure," the colonel said. "Despite our nations many challenges, our Soldiers remain the best trained, best led and best equipped force we have ever put on the battlefield of today."
McVeigh applauded the Families of the 591st saying, "Our Families are standing with our Soldiers and shouldering that responsibility of selfless service now more than ever in our Army's history."
Following the ceremony, the Soldiers visited with Family and friends. Several local television stations also were on hand to interview the Soldiers and their Family members about their deployment.
Barb Cezar, the spouse of a Soldier in the unit, set up a photo studio to take photos of the deploying Soldiers with their Families.
"I'm going to give them all an 8-by-10 [photo], because a lot of people can't go out and get Family photos done," Cezar said.
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