FORT GILLEM ENCLAVE, Ellenwood, Ga., Jan. 7, 2012 – Soldiers with the Georgia Army Guard’s 221st Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion said goodbye to family, friends and fellow Guardsmen here today before joining in the continuing operations in Southwest Asia.

With the war in Iraq over, and American and NATO forces in Iraq returning home, this latest group – composing what the battalion is calling Black Knight OEF Task Force – of more than 50 Soldiers from the 221st are heading to advanced mobilization training at Fort Lewis, Wash., and eventually Fort Bragg, N.C., before going on to provide signal intelligence and human intelligence gathering capabilities to allied ground commanders in Afghanistan.

Lieutenant Col. Raquel Durden, the battalion’s commander, says the task force was previously slated for deployment to Iraq, but with the recent drawdown of forces there, new orders were issued sending the task force to support Operation Enduring Freedom.

“While they had already received training for the deployment to Iraq, the change meant task force members had to undergo additional training for this new theater of operations,” Durden explained. “I can tell you that they were ready for their mission before, and they are just as ready to carry out the mission they’ll be doing now.”

According to Durden, this is the fifth task force in the last two and a half years that Soldiers from the 221st MI have deployed in support of during the Global War on Terrorism. Three of these, she says, have supported the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, one of which is still in country.

Captain Kevin Black of Dallas, Ga., and 1st Lt. Brian Arrowwood are the officers providing senior leadership to the Black Knights. While this is Black’s first deployment, he says every Soldier in the task force has stepped up and is ready to do whatever job is asked of them.

“We’re ready for this; I am ready for this,” Black said. “Our Soldiers have trained hard for this opportunity, and now that it has arrived, I have every confidence in their ability to do the job, do it well, and do it with pride.”

For Sgt. Melissa Pierce, who is the full-time administrator of the Clay National Guard Center Language Lab in Marietta, Ga., and a signal intelligence specialist, this is her second deployment. Her first found herworking detainee operations with Augusta’s 278th Military Police Company, 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.

“I’m ready, my fellow Soldiers are ready, and our families are ready,” Pierce said. “We as a task force have the training and strength to carry out the mission, and we have confidence in our organization to know it will help our families while we’re away. What more could a Soldier ask for?”

Major Gen. Jim Butterworth, Georgia’s Adjutant General, and Brig. Gen. Joe Jarrard, the Georgia Army National Guard Commander, were among the VIPs who came to see the Black Knights off on their journey.

“Know this,” Butterworth said as he addressed the task force, “You are as prepared as we and the Army can possibly make you. You will do the job expected of you, and we will pray daily for your success and safe return.

“To your families,” he added, “know that the Georgia Guard’s support for your families doesn’t end here. It has not, and will not ever end.”

Story and photos by Sgt. 1st Class Roy Henry

Public Affairs Office

Georgia Department of Defense