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The Department of the Army has announced upcoming deployments to Afghanistan and South Korea for U.S. soldiers from 10th Mountain Division and 1st Infantry Division.

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, out of Fort Riley, Kansas, will deploy for a winter 2020 rotation to South Korea. The brigade will be replacing 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. The deployment is part of a regular rotation of forces to the Korean Peninsula.

The rotation comes as U.S. forces on the peninsula consolidate at the mega-base that is Camp Humphreys. The new post is roughly 40 miles south of the long-time home for U.S. soldiers at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

Dagger Brigade soldiers are well-trained and ready to support any mission our nation asks of them, said brigade commander Col. Thomas Murtha in a statement accompanying the release.

We are excited about our rotation to the Republic of Korea and look forward to strengthening our long-standing partnership with our allies, Murtha added.

Meanwhile, the Armys 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, stationed at Fort Drum, New York, will be rotating this winter to Afghanistan. The unit is replacing the 82nd Airborne Divisions 3rd Brigade Combat Team as part of the Armys commitment to Operation Freedom Sentinel in the country.

Three paratroopers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team died in Afghanistan this year. One paratrooper was killed by an IED blast near Bagram Air Base in early September, while the other two were killed in what was reported as an insider attack in July.

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This year, soldiers have accounted for 13 of the Defense Departments 16 hostile deaths in Afghanistan, according to Pentagon figures as of Nov. 25.

The 1st Brigade Warriors are highly trained, disciplined and fit soldiers ready to win every mission the nation asks of them, said 10th Mountain Division commander Maj. Gen. Brian Mennes in a prepared statement.

Peace negotiations between the Taliban and U.S. diplomats broke down in September after an uptick in Taliban violence, including the death of one of those paratroopers, prompting President Donald Trump to halt the talks.

However, the president said in November that the talks had resumed to some degree and promised an eventual draw-down of troops.

We are ready at every echelon to support this mission, and we look forward to working with our international partners to help establish the conditions for long-term stability," 1st Brigade Combat Team commander Col. James Eldridge said in his own statement.

The Army previously announced that the 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas, and the 10th Mountain Division Combat Aviation Brigade out of Fort Drum, New York, will be heading to Afghanistan this winter as well.

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Army announces winter deployments to Korea and Afghanistan - ArmyTimes.com

CONCORD, N.H. A New Hampshire Army National Guard aviation unit is getting ready to head to Afghanistan.

A deployment ceremony is scheduled Saturday for the guard's Operational Support Airlift, Detachment 18, in Concord.

Based in Concord, the fixed-wing aviation unit is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan soon. The seven-man detachment will conduct aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for Special Operations command in support Operation Freedom Sentinel.

The unit reports to Fort Bliss, Texas, next week for mobilization training.

This marks the detachment's fourth deployment, and second to Afghanistan, in 12 years. It deployed there in 2010.

Formed in 1995, the unit's primary mission is medium range transportation of military passengers and sensitive cargo. The unit also was sent to Kuwait in 2007 and 2014.

Over the past decade it ""has performed a key role gathering critical enemy intelligence in support U.S. and allied ground operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and other contested regions throughout the Middle East," said New Hampshire Adjutant Gen. David Mikolaities.

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New Hampshire Guard unit getting ready to go to Afghanistan - Stars and Stripes

Army Sgt. 1st Class Dustin Ard, his wife, Mary, and their young daughter. | Courtesy GoFundMe

The following is a news release from the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

IDAHO FALLS The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, named after a fallen 9/11 firefighter, announced Friday that the mortgage on the home of Army Sgt. 1st Class Dustin Ard has been paid in full.

This announcement comes exactly three months after the Foundation first promised to pay off the familys mortgage.

Sgt. Ard, 31, was on his third deployment to Afghanistan when he was killed in the line of duty on Aug. 29.

RELATED | Green Beret from eastern Idaho killed in Afghanistan

He left behind his pregnant wife, Mary, and their 3-year-old daughter, Reagan.

I would like to thank Mr. Frank Siller and the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation for paying off the mortgage on our existing home, said Mary Ard. On August 29, 2019 we lost the love of our lives during combat operations in Afghanistan. Our daughter Reagan, our unborn son and I will always have an empty place in our hearts because of the wonderful man we lost. Without the Tunnel to Towers support, I dont believe I would be able to stay in the house my husband made a home. This is the home where Reagan would help daddy with his woodwork projects. Dustin and Reagan would plant flowers around the yard for me to enjoy. Dustin placed neon stars on Reagans bedroom ceiling that says, Daddy Loves You. This is the place where we took our daughter camping. We found out we were having a son in this home. How could I leave the home where Dustin made lasting imprints on? I have been amazed at the outpouring of love and support from family, friends, the Special Forces Community and the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The most important thing to Dustin was his family and taking care of us. To know we are (continually) being taken care of, I know he is truly grateful for. I am grateful that as a nation, you have supported this worthy cause. I wish I could thank you each personally for your generosity. But, in all honesty, I wish I didnt have to experience this level of support and would trade it all in for a pup tent just to have Dustin back.

RELATED | Charity pays off home of local Green Beret killed in Afghanistan

There is nothing we can do to heal the loss Mary and her children will feel this Christmas, said Foundation Chairman and CEO Frank Siller. My hope is that this gift of a mortgage payoff will provide the Ard family with some peace of mind ahead of the holidays.

This is the sixth home in the Foundations Season of Hope, during which it will give away a home every day from now until Christmas Eve.

The Foundations Gold Star Family Home Program honors the legacy of those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country by providing mortgage-free homes to surviving families with young children. To date, the program has delivered or is in the planning stages of 30 Gold Star homes across the country.

Courtesy photo

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He was killed in Afghanistan this summer, but this organization paid the mortgage on his family's home - East Idaho News

Twelve-year-old Kabir Hekmati admits he was a little relieved to find Austin a relatively normal place upon his familys arrival to their new home in October 2017.

The Afghanistan native and his family had a layover in Dubai on their way to America. Dubai looked futuristic, according to Kabir, and it overwhelmed the boys with its riches and technology. If this is what Dubai looks like, Kabir thought, how fancy and disorienting will America be? Turns out, not too intimidating.

The early days were tough, as one would expect, but the charming Kabir and his brothers, the joyful Komel, 9, and the cool Kamal, 14, adapted surprisingly fast. Soccer has a way of springing over simple language barriers.

The boys, their parents and baby sister, Mehr, now 3, fled Afghanistan in 2017 after the work of their father, Ahmad Kambiz Hekmati, for foreign aid organizations connected to the U.S. government brought threats and intimidation from the Taliban.

The Hekmati family is part of the Statesman's Season for Caring program, which helps hundreds of families each year through local nonprofit agencies. This year, the community has donated a little more than $100,000 to the 21st Season for Caring, which launched Sunday. Donations still are being matched by the Sheth family through Dec. 14.

The Hekmati family was nominated by Interfaith Action of Central Texas, which has called the dedicated Hekmatis a model for newly resettled refugees.

As Kabir snacks on a pizza lunch he prepared for himself and Mehr climbs around on the couch jabbering along with cartoons in her American accent, its hard to believe the children have only been in Austin for two years.

Ahmad Kambiz Hekmati, who is looking for work in accounting while working a corporate security job in the evening, admits he and his wife, Maria, were surprised by how easily the boys adapted to life in America, making friends in their school and extended immigrant community. Not long after arriving, the boys were teaching their friends basic phrases in their native Dari language while picking up a few words in Spanish.

"My advice always to the kids is to be a hard worker and smart worker, to be honest and to be loyal," he said.

As is often the case with oldest children, Kamal has taken to serious things, deciding a year ago that he eventually wants to become a doctor. He put aside the clarinet and guitar a year ago as he entered Eastside Memorial High School, but music stayed in the family. Supported by a selective mentor program at Interfaith Action of Central Texas, Kabir started ukulele lessons and wants to expand his repertoire to include the guitar.

Not to be left behind, Komel, who on one visit sported an Austin school district T-shirt proclaiming "All Are Welcome," recently starting playing the ukulele as well.

The boys go fishing with their father on the weekends, but otherwise their time with him is limited. Their mother uses the familys sole car to attend English and high school equivalency classes in the daytime, and their father leaves soon after she gets home midday to go work until late at night. The brothers hope their father can soon find daytime work in the accounting world, so that they can spend their evenings together as a family.

"Family is very important to us," Ahmad Kambiz Hekmati said.

The family has received very little on their wish list. The biggest need is a better job for Ahmad Kambiz Hekmati. They also need sheets and comforters for the bunk beds their children share; kitchen items, including a blender, pots and pans; a dining room table and chairs; laptops or iPads for the childrens studies; a gently used car; ukuleles and a guitar for Kabir and Komel; and gift cards to H-E-B and Walmart.

To find out more about the Hekmati family, contact Interfaith Action of Central Texas at 512-386-9145, interfaithtexas.org.

The rest is here:
Austin not as weird to family from Afghanistan as it could be - Austin American-Statesman

Family hopes to bring dog home from Afghanistan

Kimberly Kuizon reports

Sydney Eicher of Palmetto waits with her newborn son to hear any news from her husband, Joe who is serving in the Army.Lately, their conversation is about a dog named Ragnar.

"They were on a mission and they went to this house and dog was in really bad shape," Eicher said.

She says her husbands unit found Ragnar tied up in a compound while on a mission in a remote area of Afghanistan.

One soldier, Sergeant First Class Josh Lott, traded rations for the dog.

"He had a lot of fleas and stuff, Eicher explained. He was really malnourished. They had to do a lot to get him back to health. They didnt think he was going to make it.

They took Ragnar back to their remote outpost, where soldiers worked together to nurse him back to health.

"He's become a friend, she said. A little supporter. They all look up to him when the day is over... Out there its hard and they have this tiny friend running around keeping them company and giving them light in the day.

Soon, Sergeant Lott will head home, and wants tobring Ragnar with him.After learning it would cost $6,000 to bring the dog to the U.S., the soldiers raised money online. After FOX 13 aired their story, they quickly met their goal -- helping Ragnar get to his new home with his fellow brother.

"They're taught to not leave anybody behind and this dog is now one of them," she said.

Excerpt from:
Dog rescued in Afghanistan may get new home in the States - FOX 13 Tampa Bay