NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY: Sendoff ceremony planned for approximately 150 Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers

Gov. Scott Walker, along with local and military officials, will honor approximately 150 Wisconsin Army National Soldiers during a sendoff ceremony Friday (Sept. 16) beginning at about 9:30 a.m. at the 128th Air Refueling Wing Aircraft Hangar, 1919 East Grange Ave., at Milwaukee's Gen. Mitchell International Airport.

The Soldiers are part of the Milwaukee-based Headquarters Company, 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB)  and the 32nd Military Police (MP) Company. Approximately 30 Soldiers with West Bend-Based Company F, 2nd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment are also part of the deployment, but will hold a separate sendoff ceremony later. Mobilization training will be conducted at Camp Atterbury, Ind., for approximately two months, and the deploying Soldiers are expected to arrive in Kosovo around Thanksgiving to support the NATO-led international peace-keeping mission known as KFOR.

The 157th MEB Headquarters Company was notified March 6 of a potential deployment. While in Kosovo, the unit will function as the brigade headquarters for Multi-National Battle Group East, referred to as Task Force Falcon. They will command foreign military units from Poland, Turkey, Greece, Armenia, Ukraine and Romania, as well as more than 700 U.S. Soldiers from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Georgia, Mississippi, North Dakota and Wyoming.