Army National Guard Troops deploy for training tomorrow from Hancock Field Air Guard Base

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An New York Army National Guard Soldier from the 27th Infantry Brigade, based in Syracuse, trains at Fort Drum in May 2016.

HANCOCK FIELD AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, SYRACUSE, NY (07/08/2016)(readMedia)-- Nearly 900 Central New York Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard's 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will load aircraft and depart from Hancock Field Air National Guard Base tomorrow for a major unit training exercise at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

The troops will participate in a Joint Readiness Training Center exercise to conduct a force-on-force battle.

WHAT: Military flights departing Syracuse, N.Y. for a National Guard training exercise.

WHO: New York Army National Guard Soldiers of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

WHEN: Saturday, July 9. The flight is scheduled to depart at 1:30 p.m. Members of the news media must be at the base no later than noon. The 1:30 p.m. flight includes members of the 427th Brigade Support Battalion based in Syracuse with companies from Rochester, Fort Drum and Buffalo.

Reporters must contact Master Sgt. Eric Miller no later than noon on Friday, July 8 for access to this secure military facility.

WHERE: Main Hangar, Hancock Field Air National Guard Base. Media will enter through the Thompson Road gate.

Coverage Opportunities:

Imagery of the manifesting and loading of Soldiers on board military aircraft for departure to Fort Polk, Louisiana. There will be opportunities to interview unit representatives.

Reporters wishing to attend the event must call Master Sgt. Eric Miller or Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Call prior to noon on Friday, July 8 and must provide e-mail address (to allow for updated information if necessary) along with names of representatives. For more information contact the 174th Attack Wing Public Affairs office at 315-233-2651/2803/2408.

BACKGROUND

The Joint Readiness Training Center allows Army units to conduct combat training in a realistic environment which features a well-trained opposing force, civilian role-players on the battlefield, high-tech systems which monitor the action, and observer-controllers to evaluate unit actions.

JRTC is one of the Army's three combat training centers at which brigade-sized units can conduct realistic training against an opposing force. JRTC specializes in light infantry warfare and operations. For Soldiers, it is considered the Super Bowl of Army training.

The 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team last trained at JRTC in 2001.

Soldiers will be moving to Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station in western New York, Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, outside Syracuse, and Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh to board charter flights for Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana to deploy the entire brigade between July 9-12.

The exercise will continue to the end of July before the troops redeploy home.

The 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq multiple times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Brigade Soldiers also responded to Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storms Irene and Lee in 2011.

The brigade was originally the New York Army National Guard's 27th Infantry Division which fought in Belgium with the British Army in World War I. The division mobilized again in World War II and fought in the Pacific at the battles of Makin, Saipan, and Okinawa.