Special ceremony for Wyoming soldiers

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:04 PM MDT

Father's Day was bittersweet this year for thousands of soldiers deploying with the 115th Fires Brigade as they marked the official end to the pre-deployment process in Fort Hood, Texas.

The ceremony took place at the North Fort Hood's Shorthorn Airstrip and included a gathering of more than 1,000 family and friends.

The brigade includes more than 2,300 soldiers from units in five different states - Wyoming, Alabama, Colorado, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Soldiers will depart later this month to spend approximately nine months throughout Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Soldiers arrived at Fort Hood in mid-April to train.

Col. Richard Knowlton, the Wyoming Army National Guard's 115th Fires Brigade commander, said, "This was the best training that some of these soldiers have ever had."

"It is 97 degrees (Fahrenheit) in Fort Hood today and 111 degrees in Kuwait. Our soldiers are ready to take on this challenge."

Knowlton said the mission is to protect bases and camps in Kuwait, secure convoys traveling into Iraq, and to conduct security missions in Iraq.

"We have the right people in the right job at the right time for this deployment," Knowlton said. "My goal is to bring everyone home physically, mentally and spiritually intact."

This is Wyoming's largest deployment in the history of the Wyoming Army National Guard.

Soldiers were granted a four-day pass to spend with family before departing for Kuwait and Iraq.

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