Another group of Vermont National Guard soldiers is shipping out.
About 350 members of the Guard – from armories in St. Albans, Swanton, Enosburg, Newport, Lyndonville and Bennington – will participate in a departure ceremony Friday in Burlington. Family members will join them, but the ceremony isn’t open to the general public.
The soldiers part of a 1,500 Vermont National Guard unit headed to Afghanistan for a one-year deployment training Afghan police and security forces.
First, they’re headed for Camp Atterbury, Indiana, for training. Then they’ll come back to Vermont for the holidays before returning to Indiana to complete their training and head to Afghanistan.
Photos below taken at a series Vermont National Guard deployment ceremonies in December,2009 and January, 2010. Credit: Sergeant Elizabeth Strauss, Vermont National Guard Public Affairs Office.