ATLANTA - What: Georgia Army National Guard’s own 278th Military Police Company returns from their deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with nearly 140 Guardsmen on Feb. 12 at 3 p.m.
These Guardsmen will return to friends and family after conducting a Force Protection and Security mission for several Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan.
Commanded by Capt. Luis Mendez and 1st Sgt. Michael Murphy, the 278th MP Company was the most decorated company in their Battalion, receiving 42 Combat Action Badges and one Purple Heart. After nine months of 24-hour operations, these Guardsmen will be glad to be home. So come and welcome them home with their friends and family
When: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, 3 p.m.
(Media arrive no later than 2:45 pm)
Where: Smyrna Community Center | 200 Village Green Circle | Smyrna, Ga., 30080.
Who: Brig. Gen. Joe Jarrard, commanding general Georgia Army National Guard; Col. Vernon Atkinson, commander of the 201st Regional Support Command; representatives of state and local government; the soldiers of the 278th Military Police Company and their families.
Media contact: Maj. Will Cox at (404) 718-9692 or william.g.cox10.mill@mail.mil
Unit contact: Maj. Yasin Muhaimin at 678.569.6784 or yasin.i.muhaimin.mil@mail.mil
Background: The 278th Military Police Company out of Augusta, Ga., commanded by Mendez and Murphy, returns from a nine-month deployment at multiple locations throughout Afghanistan.
One-hundred-forty soldiers return on Wednesday, Feb. 12 to their friends and families after conducting a Force Protection and Security mission for several Forward Operating Bases in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Serving under the command of the 437th Military Police Battalion, the 278th MP Company was the most decorated company in the battalion, receiving 42 Combat Action Badges and one Purple Heart. After nine months of operating 24 hours a day, the soldiers are happy to be home and proud to call the mission a resounding success.
The Georgia Army National Guard consists of more than 11,100 citizen-soldiers training in more than 57 hometown armories and regional facilities across the state. Georgia’s Army Guard is the eighth largest in the nation, and includes combat, combat support and combat service support units.
The Georgia Army National Guard is organized into six major subordinate commands: the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Macon; the 78th Troop Command, the 78th Aviation Troop Command and 201st Regional Support Command at Clay National Guard Center in Marietta; the Cumming based 560th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade; and the 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade in Columbus at Fort Benning.