Soldiers from the Oregon Army National Guard, assigned to Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, along with maintenance support members from the 145th Brigade Support Battalion, held a demobilization ceremony Saturday in Hermiston.
More than 75 Oregon Soldiers were combined with two Army National Guard Companies from the Montana Army National Guard’s 163rd Infantry Regiment, as part of TASK FORCE GRIZ, supporting the United States Central Command. In addition, service members from Idaho, Nevada, and Florida made up the total force supporting OPERATION SPARTAN SHIELD, strengthening defense relationships, and building partner nation abilities in the region.
These Citizen-Soldiers were initially mobilized on Nov. 4, 2021, and departed for Qatar in early January 2022.
“Our mission was to be a mobile, armored reaction force to deter malign foreign influence and reassure allies within the Middle East of the United States’ continued commitment to the region,” said Army National Guard Capt. Sean Popravak.
The 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team is headquartered in Idaho and consists of Soldiers from the four western states of Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Oregon. The unit is one of five armored brigade combat teams in the U.S. National Guard and one of 16 in the United States Army.
“While deployed, we participated in Eager Lion, a multinational military exercise involving 29 other partner nations in Jordan,” Popravak said, describing some of the highlights of the nearly yearlong mobilization. “It was an exciting and rewarding experience exchanging military expertise and improving interoperability among our forces through various training scenarios and live fire events.”
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Reed and Maj. Gen. Michael Stencel, Adjutant General, Oregon, served as the presiding officials on behalf of Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, during their official welcome home ceremony.
