Photo By Staff Sgt. Jeff Daniel | Brig. Gen. James Owens, commander of the 352nd Civil Affairs Command, speaks to...... read more read more
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DETROIT — The 414th Civil Affairs Battalion hosted a welcome-home ceremony Dec. 12 at Detroit's Wayne State University in honor of 35 Soldiers from the unit's A Company, which returned from a yearlong deployment to the Horn of Africa Oct. 17.
The Soldiers served at various locations throughout the African countries of Djibouti, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia as part of a humanitarian mission that had them partner with local governments and tribal villages on a range of defense, development and diplomacy projects throughout the region.
Though many of the company's Soldiers were on leave and unable to attend the ceremony, those present received recognition for participation in a mission that, while successful, proved challenging from the start.
Alpha company was the first Civil Affairs unit to mobilize for a Horn of Africa deployment at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Because of that, unit leaders were left with the task of building the company's mobilization training plan from scratch, said 414th Commander Lt. Col. Elizabeth Medina.
Throughout their stay at Dix, the unit had to adapt to a training environment set up to prepare Soldiers for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, but not Africa. For example, Fort Dix uses Humvees for transportation and convoy training, rather than SUV's, which are the primary mode of transportation for Civil Affairs units in Africa.
The unit arrived in country Nov. 20, 2008. The command team was based in Djibouti, while each of the other four operational teams assumed control of different operational areas.
Each team provided a range of capacity-building services based on the needs of the local population. Services included medical, veterinary, mapping and reconstruction of schools and water systems. The operational areas were much larger than those for which Civil Affairs in Iraq or Afghanistan are responsible, said Medina. In some cases, Company A teams covered an entire country.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Leclerc, assistant operations non-commissioned officer for A Company's Operational Team 5, said his team inoculated 100,000 animals in Djibouti, Uganda, and in Tanzania as part of its veterinary services mission. Additionally, Team 5 was responsible for establishing a water supply to the Garissa Boys High School, in Garissa, Kenya.
Sgt. Janet Peace, an A Company medic, was stationed in Djibouti as part of the command unit. Though her primary mission was caring for the unit's Soldiers, she was also able to provide medical support services to local citizens in and around Djibouti.
The missions to treat the local population were a distinct change from Peace's normal duties caring for Soldiers, and are the source of many unusual experiences. In one instance, Peace treated a villager in the middle of a chicken coop, she said.
Leclerc and Peace had another unique situation together while deployed. The two got married in Kenya after a short engagement, and Feb. 20 will mark the one-year anniversary for the couple.
The two traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, to get married at the country's U.S. embassy. Fellow A Company Soldier Sgt. Andrew Blakely, who is also a preacher, issued the vows, said Leclerc.
"The prime minister of Kenya signed the marriage certificate and we had our picture taken with him," Leclerc said.
For Leclerc and Peace, who have previously served in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively, the Horn of Africa mission was the trip of a lifetime and a world away from the rigors of typical counterinsurgency operations, they said.
And although A Company had no insurgency to contend with, they still had to work hard to gain the trust and respect of the local citizens, who spoke of a long history of people coming into the region, promising the world and leaving soon thereafter.
"That is one of the tragic parts of our deployment, is that we are only over there for a year," said Leclerc.
Still the two say they have no regrets and would like to eventually return to the Horn of Africa.
Leclerc, "This was the best deployment the Army has ever given me."
| Date Taken: | 12.14.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 01.10.2010 09:54 |
| Story ID: | 43628 |
| Location: | DETROIT, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 3,084 |
| Downloads: | 623 |
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