West Orange Soldiers in Italy:   51 soldiers from Company C, 50th Main Support Battalion in West Orange are deployed to both Vincenza and Pisa, Italy to support Army depot operations. Equipment for both Bosnia and Kosovo is repaired and maintained in support facilities in Italy. Jersey Guard men and women are performing a variety of tasks from electronic repair, to textile fabrication, to mortuary affairs. The 50th will rotate another group to Italy on April 7th. 

Sea Girt and Cape May Soldiers in Honduras:   20 medics from Company C, 250th Forward Support Battalion in Sea Girt and 8 soldiers from the 253rd Transportation Company in Cape May are currently working in Lempira Department (Province) in Honduras to assist with humanitarian efforts being conducted by U.S. forces.  A task force of National Guard soldiers from several states, Marine reservists from Missouri, and Navy Seabees are building six schools, four clinics, and four latrines  in rural villages in the mountains of Honduras. The N.J. medics are providing medical care for the joint task force in Lempira – where the temperatures are routinely over 100 degrees – as well as providing much needed assistance to the Honduran population. Minor construction accidents, heat injuries, and sprains/falls keep our medics busy every day. The medics also accompany teams into remote settlements to conduct “sick call” for the local population. They often see over 700 patients in a single day.

The truckers from Cape May’s 253rd Transportation Company are moving everything from sand and gravel for construction sites to sea containers and bulldozers. They service all of the construction sites with building material and transport the supplies from the Port of Cieba to keep the 500 man camp functional.  Both the medics and the truckers will rotate home on March 31, and will be replaced with other soldiers from their units. The mission in Honduras lasts from January through June.

Jersey City and Woodbridge Soldiers in California:  Somebody has to be the “bad guys” when the Army practices the art of warfighting – that role is being played by the soldiers from Companies C and D of the  2nd Battalion, 113th Infantry based from Jersey City and Woodbridge.  N.J. soldiers will be portraying the “OPFOR” (opposing forces) for a brigade from the active Army  as they conduct combat operations in the Mojave Desert in Fort Irwin, California. The Infantrymen have just deployed and will be in California until April 17th. 

In addition to these rotations, the New Jersey Army National Guard is preparing to send soldiers to Bosnia as part of the Stabilization Force (SFOR) for six months beginning in September. The 29th Infantry Division which is made up of National Guard units from Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey is assuming the command of SFOR-10 from September 2001 to February 2002. Aviation personnel from West Trenton make up the majority of N.J. soldiers who will deploy.

If you want further information about these deployments or other N.J. National Guard operations, contact Colonel John Dwyer, 609-530