FORT WORTH -- Most of the soldiers in the 3rd Battalion, 144th Infantry, already wear a combat patch on the right sleeve of their uniform.
But as has been demonstrated many times over the last decade, anyone who spends time in the military will likely make more than one trip to a war zone. About 200 Texas Army National Guard soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, headquartered in a southeast-side armory, departed Sunday after a deployment ceremony, ultimately bound for western Afghanistan.It is at least the fifth time that elements of the battalion have mobilized and deployed overseas in the last decade."Probably three-quarters of [the soldiers] have already been deployed to some theater," said Command Sgt. Maj. David Snowden, whose civilian job is with the Grand Prairie Fire Department. "We have a lot of experienced soldiers."Only portions of Headquarters Company, Charlie Company and Delta Company -- rather than the whole battalion -- are going to Afghanistan. Before shipping out this summer, the troops will undergo additional training at Camp Shelby, Miss.The vast majority of the unit's soldiers have civilian jobs in Dallas-Fort Worth. The battalion commander, Lt. Col. John Herrera, is a businessman in Lubbock.The soldiers will spend about nine months in the Herat province, close to Iran, where they will provide security for an air base. The base is in an area under control of the Italian army, which has about 3,500 soldiers serving in Afghanistan as part of NATO.The Texas troops will arrive in Afghanistan as the overall number of U.S. troops deployed there is scheduled to decline significantly. More than 20,000 are scheduled to return to the U.S. this fall and won't be replaced. The U.S. plans to turn more of the combat role over to the Afghans in 2013.Snowden, who has served a year in the Sinai Peninsula and a year in Baghdad, described Afghanistan as "certainly a new adventure.""I enjoy deployments," he said. "I don't enjoy leaving my family, by any means. But it's a life experience."The National Guard battalion traces its lineage to the 4th Texas Infantry, a fierce fighting unit that earned its reputation at battles like Second Manassas, Antietam and Cold Harbor. The battalion became a Texas/Oklahoma National Guard outfit during World War I when it joined the 36th Infantry Division at Camp Bowie.As with all reserve and Guard units since 9/11, it has sustained a busy schedule for a part-time unit in recent years -- Iraq twice, Kosovo once and Afghanistan twice.Maj. John Sturgill, battalion executive officer, said the families of the troops are ready despite the strains it places on relatives and employers."Our battalion family support is actually as strong as I've seen in a long time," he said.Snowden said he has made sure to tell families that their soldiers "are properly trained for the mission," which is about all he can say."It is a combat zone, and the families know it's Afghanistan," he said. "We just ensure that the families know that their soldiers are prepared. Hopefully that will calm them a bit."Chris Vaughn, 817-390-7547Twitter: @CVaughnFWHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
