The mission never ends for the Idaho Army National Guard. Once again, citizen-soldiers will leave their families, jobs, and churches to protect our country. The Guard hosted a sendoff allowing families to get one last hug and goodbye before soldiers from the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team deployed to somewhere in Southwest Asia.

The unit departed from Gowen Field, supporting Operation Spartan Shield. Over 600 troops will leave their homes for twelve months keeping America safe. The group has two years of training to prepare for its current mission.Soldiers will join Idaho soldiers from Montana, Ohio, Oregon, and South Carolina.

What is Operation Spartan Shield?

From the Idaho Army National Guard Release"

Operation Spartan Shield is a joint mission under the United States Central Command and is part of Operation Enduring Freedom. OSS is an ongoing operation and supported primarily by Army National Guard combat units from across the country.  The first task force left in November 2021 and will return in October. The Soldiers mobilizing Wednesday will receive 45 days of additional training stateside before deploying overseas.

The 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team is not new to being deployed around the world.  In 2004 and 2010 the unit was deployed to Iraq.  They were the last American unit to run areas of the country before turning over several military bases to the Iraqi Army. (We had the privilege of being embedded with the unit in 2010.)

Please keep these folks and their families in your prayers. How many folks would choose to leave their families and jobs to serve our country? Our community and our state is very blessed to have such patriots who sacrifice their lives to serve our country.