Members of the 48th Combat Support Hospital said goodbye to their loved ones on Saturday after the unit held a deployment ceremony at the Post Theater.
About 180 Soldiers will deploy for a nine-month assignment in Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The 48th CSH is headquartered at the Capt. John Smathers Reserve Center on Route 175. The Army Reserve unit consists of more than 900 Soldiers with the mission of providing deployable hospitalization and outpatient services. It has the medical capability of a 248-bed hospital, providing operating rooms, emergency medical triage and treatment facilities, intensive care units, minimal care wards and neuropsychiatry services.
The 45-minute deployment ceremony, which also was attended by family members and friends, included the reading of a farewell letter from Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski by Denise Nooe, a representative from the senator's office, and remarks by senior military leaders.
The ceremony ended with the casing of the unit's colors and a rendition of the Army Song.
"I want you to know I am grateful for your service to our country and the sacrifice for you and your families," Nooe said on behalf of Mikulski. "... Please know that we are proud of you and praying for your safety."
Nooe presented Col. Thomas A. Johnson Jr., commander of the 48th CSH, with a folded American flag that was flown over the Capitol at Mikulski's request in honor of the unit.
Maj. Gen. Dean Sienko, commander of the 3rd Medical Command (Deployment Support), which consists of all of the Army Reserve's deployable medical assets east of the Mississippi River, spoke about the importance of the deployment.
He said that although combat operations have ended in Iraq and combat operations are likely to end in Afghanistan next year, the U.S. "will always have a need for a strategic military presence overseas."
The deployment to Kuwait will make the 48th CSH available to support the Third U.S. Army/Army Central Command/U.S. Army Forces Central Command.
Sienko said the U.S. Army Forces Central Command's areas of operations include multiple nations where there is "considerable instability" including Iran, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Egypt.
"Should our nation need to respond militarily or want military operations other than war, it will call on Third Army, it will call on Army Central, and it can very well call on the 48th Combat Support Hospital," Sienko said.
Although Kuwait is in a period of peace, said Sienko, "you never know when things will suddenly get hot."
He reminded the Soldiers that they will need to stay focused and be prepared to respond.
"In this business, there is no second chance," Sienko said. "So this will be a challenge. This will be a challenge for the Soldiers and it will be a challenge for the family members. But this can be a very positive experience in all of your lives. You are likely to be stronger, more resilient and forever proud of what you have done."
In his remarks, Johnson thanked family members for "loaning us your Soldiers for awhile."
Johnson said it was his job to "remind our Soldiers to contact you all, to write, to email. There's no excuse for your Soldier not to contact you. There's nothing better than getting a letter in the mail and a few Girl Scout cookies."
After the ceremony, the Soldiers and their family members attended a catered luncheon at McGill Training Center.
At the event, Sgt. Brian Black, a physical therapy technician, held his 4-month-old daughter Addison before eating lunch with his wife, Crystal, and mother-in-law. This is Black's first deployment with the unit.
"I'm a little sad, but eager to get the mission done," he said. "It's kind of hard to leave your new family."
The couple, who live in Norfolk, Va., said extended family will be a big help during the deployment.
"It's bittersweet," Crystal Black said. "The sooner he goes, the sooner he comes back home."
Sgt. Duane McGill, a combat medic and the unit's noncommissioned officer-in-charge, attended the luncheon with his fiancé Spc. Sascha Flander of the 48th Alpha Company at Fort Storey, Va.
"I feel good about it, I'm happy to go," McGill said of the deployment. "We have a good group of Soldiers. We're looking forward to the mission."
Flander said the couple plans to marry when he returns.
"I'm counting down the time to when he gets back home," she said.
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