Photo By Lt. Col. Adam Musil | The 149th Financial Management Support Detachment conducted a mobilization ceremony...... read more read more
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By Capt. Adam Musil
36th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
The Texas Army National Guard’s Central Texas-based 149th Financial Management Support Detachment (FMSD) said goodbye to their friends and family at a mobilization ceremony at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in San Marcos, Texas, Sept. 3, 2013.
The unit is expected to deploy and conduct payment operations in Kuwait and Jordan. The Soldiers’ missions will likely include, assisting service members with pay, contract management, and distributing funds through cash machines. The 149th FMSD will replace its sister detachment, 249th FMSD, from San Marcos, Texas which deployed in January 2013. Both are subordinate units of the 36th Infantry Division’s 36th Sustainment Brigade, at Camp Mabry, in Austin.
Deployments are nothing new to Sgt. 1st Class James Bryan, the unit’s readiness noncommissioned officer-in-charge. He has four previous deployments and has served in combat as an Infantryman.
“This is the first deployment for many of our soldiers so it was important that we became tactically proficient during our annual training period,” said Bryan. “All the soldiers understand the world of finance, but annual training allowed us to get into the mindset of mobilized soldier and develop our basic soldier skills.”
The 149 FMSD braved triple-digit heat this summer at Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas, in preparation for the deployment. There, they trained on battle drills and marksmanship among other Army mandated pre-mobilization validation requirements. While the 149th FMSD passed their training with no incidents, soldiers such as Pfc. Kevin Nguyen believed his teammates learned more than just soldiering.
“Before the training many of us barely knew each other, but I think the unit really bonded during annual training,” Nguyen said. “The intensity of the training really molded us into who we are today.”
Among the attendees at the event was Col. Albert Adkinson, Commander, 36th Sustainment Brigade who addressed the soldiers and their families.
“I would ask that each of you believe in yourselves, your months of training, and each other,” Adkinson said. “Just like in corporate America, the Army operates on the efficiency of its money. The Army will run because of you.”
Following the speeches, Capt. Lisa Longo, the unit’s commander, and Bryan cased the unit colors – a tradition for all mobilizing Army units. The colors will be unfurled once the unit is on the ground in Kuwait and will be posted at the detachment headquarters.
“We have an important mission ahead of us and I am humbled and honored to command this unit and take it overseas,” Longo said to the friends and family in attendance. “This unit has a long lineage with a history of deployments and after growing and suffering over the past few months I know we are ready for the challenges ahead.”
This will be the second deployment in five years for the 149th FMSD. The 149th FMSD and sister detachment, the 249th FMSD, make up two-thirds of the 49th Financial Management Support Unit. Elements of the 49th FMSU deployed previously to Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Storm and also deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo.
| Date Taken: | 09.03.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 09.05.2013 13:03 |
| Story ID: | 113118 |
| Location: | AUSTIN , TX, US |
| Web Views: | 1,062 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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