Fighting New Battles - Arkansas National Guard

The Arkansas MinutemanFarewells are always difficult, but when it involves a loved one leaving on mobilization for over a year it canbe especially emotional. Approximately 1,700 Arkansas Guard Soldiers and Airmen are currently mobilized orhave mobilization orders in hand. Nearly 8,000 of the state’s 10,000 troops have served on federal mobilizationssince the global war on terror began. Here Staff Sgt. Thomas Allen Bowen of Company B, 449th AviationIntermediate Maintenance of the 77th Aviation Brigade says goodbye to his sons Ciara and Laind, and his wifeSylvia before boarding a bus to Fort Hood, Texas. (Photo by Sgt. Chris A. Durney.) Far left, top: Spc. ZacharyDavidson says one final goodbye to his wife prior to heading out for Fort Hood to begin an 18 month mobilizationwith the 77th Aviation Brigade’s 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott.) Farleft, bottom: Two month-old Delaney Martin is held one last time by her father Chief Warrant Officer JoshuaMartin before he leaves for an 18 month mobilization with Company B, 1st of the 185th Assault. Also picturedare his other children Alex, Chelsey and Sean, and his wife Elizabeth. (Photo by Sgt. Chris A. Durney.) Belowleft: A young child watches over a formation of Arkansas Army National Guard Soldiers atCamp Joseph T. Robinson as the troops take their first step towards an 18 month deployment.About 50 Soldiers with Company D, 2nd Battalion of the 114th Aviation Air TrafficServices loaded buses for a trip to Camp Shelby, Miss., where they are training inpreparation for a fall deployment to Iraq. (Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott.)Bottom right: Maj. Chris Campbell, who proudly sports the Arkansas flagon his rucksack, is given a sendoff by Maj. Gen. Don C. Morrow, theadjutant general of Arkansas, as he prepares to board a planewith approximately 200 Oregon Guard members heading overseas.Campbell, from Jacksonville, Ark., left Gulfport, Miss.,with Arkansas’ Joint Force Headquarters - Forward 9, whichis a 16 Soldier cell deploying to Afghanistan with Oregon’s41st Brigade Combat Team. Campbell returned fromIraq in the spring of last year after an 18 month mobilizationwith the 39th Brigade Combat Team.(Photo by 1st Lt. Chris Heathscott.)Summer 2006 Page 35