Four Montana Guard Members to be Deployed to the Middle East

Four members of the Montana National Guard will receive training in Texas before being deployed in a support mission to the Middle East.

Public Information Officer for the Montana National Guard, Major Dan Bushnell provides details.

“This is the 1941st contingency contract team with the Montana Army National Guard,” said Major Bushnell. “Four soldiers will be heading out to Fort Bliss this weekend to conduct some pre mobilization training and upon completion of that training they'll be heading to the Middle East or what is referred to as the Central Command area of responsibility, and we expect to return in the in the fall of 2021.”

Major Bushnell described the training and the mission.

“Down in Fort Bliss, they'll be doing some pre mobilization training, which is records review,” he said. “They'll go through a medical evaluation and they'll get they'll final briefings for the deployment, and then when they arrive in the Middle East their primary responsibility is reviewing, approving and awarding contracts on behalf of the Department of Defense.”

Major Bushnell said the support work is vital to the overall success of the mission in the Middle East.

“It's just as vital as any mission that Montana National Guardsmen got to do,” he said. “It’s just as vital because many of the activities that occur in theater require contracts, and so these folks are doing a very vital mission in theater. It's just not the one that most people think of for the military, but it's extremely important for those folks that are in theater to ensure that they get the goods and services they need to conduct their operations on a day to day basis.”

No departure ceremony was planned to ensure continued compliance with local, state and DoD COVID-19 requirements. however, a small ceremony was held on Friday, Nov. 6^th.