FORT BENNING, Columbus, Ga., Dec. 11, 2011 – Standing outside the new Armed Forces Reserve Center here in the town his unit has called home the past several weeks, Col. Andy Hall, commander of the Georgia Army Guard’s 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB), says he and his Soldiers are ready to hit the ground running and carry out the mission they have been given.

The 648th will take over its mission – to assume command and control of the forward operating bases (FOBs) that make up what is known as the Kabul Base Cluster in Afghanistan – from the Massachusetts Army Guard’s 26th MEB.

Hall, who assumed command of the 648th from Col. Keith Knowlton last year, and his more than 150 Soldiers of the MEB’s headquarters element embarked on the second leg of their yearlong journey to Afghanistan today from Lawson Army Airfield aboard a chartered flight to Fort Hood, Texas. After several weeks of advanced mobilization training there, the 648th will move on to Camp Phoenix in Kabul.

“We’ll be taking over day-to-day operations which include maintenance, security and base defense for the FOBs that make up the Kabul Cluster,” Hall said. “We’ve been watching those operations for about a year now, and for the past eight months have been working closely with 26th MEB so that our folks understand what’s going on and what we can expect to be doing once we arrive.

“We have an outstanding team that is highly trained and ready to do the job with which they’ve been tasked,” Hall added. “Our officers and enlisted personnel know what’s expected of them, and they bring great credit upon themselves, the Georgia Army Guard, and the state.”

Among those called upon for this deployment is Spc. Ryan S. Machan, an infantryman and former air defense artilleryman from Acworth, Ga. On this mission, he will be working as an environmental compliance officer for the 648th. It is a job he was chosen for, he says, based on his work in the civilian flooring sector which has to meet local, state and federal environmental requirements set out for the flooring and housing construction industry.

“Other compliance teams and I will be traveling throughout the Kabul Cluster, making sure building maintenance is up to standard, and that health and environmental standards are being met regarding food and vehicle maintenance operations,” Machan said.

As to the readiness of those compliance teams, he added, “We as Soldiers already know that the environment in which we operate must be kept in a healthy, diverse and sustainable condition if our bases and the personnel who man them are to function properly. The training we’ve received over the past year will help us do that successfully.”

With Machan to see him off for his first-ever deployment, is his fiancée of three months, Whitney Wrighting. She finds his going to Afghanistan “a bit scary,” as it is her first deployment too. But Wrighting says she is also very proud of Machan and his fellow Guardsmen.

“I’ve known from the beginning of our relationship that Ryan is very committed to being a Soldier, as are his buddies, and that they choose to do what they do because of their own sense of duty and pride,” Wrighting said. “While there is an anxiety inside me about his going in harm’s way, I also know that they are all dedicated to getting each other safely home.”

Click here for extra news about the 648th's departure ceremony which was attended by Gov. Nathan Deal.

Story and photos by Sgt. 1st Class Roy Henry

Public Affairs Office

Georgia Department of Defense