Before they left for Afghanistan, 16 Missouri National Guardsmen had to say farewell to their families.
JEFFERSON CITY — Andrew Stodgel has served in the Army for 18 years and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, so he’s used to long deployments in faraway places. But Thursday at a deployment ceremony for 16 members of the Missouri National Guard, Stodgel was thinking about the people he was leaving behind.
“The one thing I’m going to miss is kissing the girls and tucking them into bed,” said Stodgel, who was with his wife, Kris, and their two daughters, Madolyn, 8, and Katelynn, 11.
Stodgel, from Boonville, is one of three mid-Missourians who boarded a plane Thursday on the first leg of a journey that will end in Afghanistan three months from now. He will help train the Afghan army.
Members of Joint Force Missouri Forward 55, as the unit is being called, were notified of their deployment a couple of months ago, said Capt. Tamara Spicer of the Missouri National Guard. The unit’s deployment will last 545 days.
After the ceremony, the soldiers were flown to Biloxi, Miss., aboard a C-23 Sherpa. They then moved on to Camp Shelby, Miss., for three months of training. Once in Afghanistan, the unit will be responsible for training the Afghan army, including teaching leadership development and army institutional systems.
The unit is an experienced group, Spicer said, with its lowest-ranking member a staff sergeant. Although some of the soldiers had been sent on other overseas missions, such as Bosnia and Desert Storm, none had been previously deployed to Afghanistan, said Lt. Col. James Grimm, the unit’s commanding officer.
Grimm has been with the Guard for 7½ years after serving 12 years on active duty. He lives in Kansas City with his wife and two daughters. In his civilian life, he is a business manager at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Grimm has served overseas before, both on active duty and with the Guard, but not in the current conflict.
During the three-month training period, members of the unit will prepare for their mission by familiarizing themselves with the people and army they will be training. That includes taking introductory courses in two local languages, Dari and Pashtu. They will also learn about the Russian weapons favored by the Afghan army, Grimm said. In addition, the soldiers will take convoy training, combat lifesaver courses, counter-improvised explosive device training and courses in radio communication.
Master Sgt. Denis Lenger of Ashland said he looked forward to serving overseas. He has been in the National Guard for 21 years and served in the Marines for six years before that. This is the first overseas deployment for the father of four, and he said he’s very excited.
“It’s a reward in some respects,” Lenger said. “My family is behind me 100 percent because, like me, they believe in the American dream. My dad and grandad both served, as did other family members.”
Once the unit reaches Afghanistan, soldiers will go on missions with Afghan army units. The soldiers will work in four areas — reconnaissance, engineering, artillery and with an anti-tank company, Grimm said.
“Our mission will be to take individual skills (the Afghans) have learned and make them into a fighting unit,” Grimm said.
No details were available on where or how the unit might be deployed once it gets to Afghanistan, but, Grimm said, there was a “high probability” that the 16 soldiers would be dispersed.
“Once they go on active duty, they’ll belong to the active duty army,” Spicer said. “We’re supporting their mission.”
The National Guard has played an increasingly important role since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“To be honest we make up about 30 to 40 percent of the troops out there,” Chaplain Gary Gilmore said. “Our guys stand shoulder to shoulder with the other guys, and when push comes to shove, we’re both on the same side fighting the same battle.”
As of Thursday, the Department of Defense lists 272 American soldiers who have died in Afghanistan, 136 of whom were killed in action. An additional 691 have been wounded in action.
Thursday’s ceremony took place in an auditorium at the Ike Skelton Training Site. The soldiers received a wide range of thanks, advice and well-wishes from politicians and officers.
When Gilmore addressed the crowd, he called it “a day of conflicting emotion.” On the one hand, the ceremony was a reminder of what it meant to be an American and of pride in service, while on the other, it was a day of grief and anxiety for families sending loved ones into danger, Gilmore said.
State Sen. Carl Vogel, R-Jefferson City, who Gilmore said has never missed a deployment or return ceremony, was one of many government officials who addressed the crowd. Vogel thanked the soldiers not only for serving but also for inspiring his 23-year-old son, who had often accompanied him to Guard ceremonies, to enlist in St. Louis.
When Gen. Larry Kay addressed the soldiers, he focused on their families and gave them advice on how to get through the deployment. He told families at home to be proud of their husbands, fathers and sons who were serving overseas. He also told the soldiers to take care of themselves and each other.
“If you don’t take care of yourselves, you can’t help anybody,” Kay said.