130 NY National Guard Soldiers saluted during farewell ceremony at Hobart and Smith College on Monday, June 13

Media Advisory

GENEVA, NEW YORK (06/10/2022) (readMedia)-- One hundred and thirty New York Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Squadron 101st Cavalry will say goodbye to their friends and family before they head for the Horn of Africa, during a farewell ceremony at Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva on Monday, June 13.

Member of the press are invited to cover the ceremony.

The core of the unit is the Geneva based Apache Troop of the 2nd Battalion, 101st Cavalry, but the unit includes Soldiers from across the squadron, which has elements in Buffalo, Jamestown, and Niagara Falls as well.

WHO: Over 400 Soldiers and family members of Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry.

WHAT: A formal farewell ceremony at Hobart and Smith College's Bristol Gymnasium during which Soldiers slated for a security mission at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti -- and locations in Kenya and Somalia--will say formally goodbye to their families for their 11-month long deployment.

While the official ceremony will be on June 13, the Soldiers will leave for Fort Drum, New York for three weeks of training on June 14. They will then head to Fort Bliss, Texas for an additional 45-days and then deploy to Africa in September. They will spend approximately ten months in African before returning.

WHEN: 12:30 p.m., Monday, June 13, 2022

WHERE: Bristol Gymnasium , Hobart and Smith College, Geneva, New York

Coverage Opportunities:

Reporters can obtain video and still images of the farewell ceremony and Soldiers boarding the buses taking them to Fort Drum. Interviews with leaders, Soldiers and family members can be arranged.

Reporters should contact Staff Sgt. Nicholas Murphy at 585-944-7690 to coordinate access to the ceremony.

BACKGROUND

The farewell ceremony in Geneva is one of four taking place on June 13 and June 14, as a task force of 1,000 Soldiers built around the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry heads for post mobilization training at Fort Drum and Fort Bliss, before deploying to the Horn of Africa.

The 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, is famous as the "Fighting 69th" and distinguished itself during the Civil War, World War I and World War II and in Iraq in 2005. Company-sized elements from the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry, as well as the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry are part of the deployment.

The other farewell events, which take place on June 14 are at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, and the Nassau County Police Academy on Long Island

Camp Lemonnier is a former French Foreign Legion base on the Gulf of Aden, which has been used by the U.S. military since 2002. The base has been used to suppress piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and serves as the headquarters of United States operations in Africa.