Eighty New York National Guard Soldiers assigned to the headquarters of the 42nd Infantry Division said goodbye to their family members at the Patriot Way Armory near Rochester International Airport on Saturday, January 11, as they went on duty to prepare for deployment to the United States Central Command area of responsibility.
The Soldiers departed for Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, to begin training and then move to Fort Hood later this month for additional training before deploying to the U.S. Central Command area later this year. The Soldiers will spend approximately 10 months deployed. The division has been preparing for this Middle East deployment for the last two years.
The division, commanded by Major General Steven Ferrari will assume command over Task Force Spartan, a unique, multi-component organization, made up of active Army and National Guard units, rounded out by U.S. Army Reserve support units. The task force maintains U.S. military posture in Southwest Asia sufficient to strengthen defense relationships and build partner capacity.
Units in the task force support Operation Spartan Shield with capabilities such as aviation, logistics, force protection and information management.
The division headquarters and the task force will facilitate theater security cooperation activities such as key leader engagements, joint exercises, conferences, symposia and humanitarian assistance/disaster response planning.
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