FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa.– Soldiers with the 213th Personnel Company, 213th Regional Support Group, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, recently returned home from a nine-month deployment to three nations.
About 65 Soldiers from the unit, separated into three platoons spanning nearly half the globe for their deployment. One platoon was stationed in Romania, another in Kuwait and another in Afghanistan.
The Soldiers in Kuwait and Romania accounted for personnel entering and leaving the theater. This function is also known as Joint Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration. The Soldiers in Afghanistan managed U.S. postal operations for the entire country, with a headquarters at Bagram Airfield and remote outposts throughout the country. They also supported postal operations for allied troops.
“These functions are exactly what a personnel company’s mission is,” explained Maj. Danielle MacDonnell, commander of the 213th Personnel Company who while deployed commanded the postal operations in Afghanistan. “A personnel company provides external human resources support, as opposed to a S1 personnel section, which provides internal HR support to an organization. The three missions of a personnel company are: personnel accountability, postal operations and casualty reporting.”
The Soldiers had a successful mobilization and considered it a good experience. Sgt. 1st Class Alejandra Castillo, noncommissioned officer in-charge of the Kandahar post office said, “The best part of our deployment was knowing that we had a direct impact on morale for those in Afghanistan. Being able to provide quality and efficient postal support was vitally important and I’m so proud of everyone on the team who made that happen.”
The Soldiers returned home in September 2015 and drilled together for the first time in more than a year in December. The drill included holiday activities and encouraged camaraderie amongst the reunited unit members. As the unit moves into the new year the members of the unit are looking forward to begin training together as a company once again.
“It’s been great to have the unit back together again,” said MacDonnell. “Everybody is excited and motivated.”
Organized in 1849, the 213th Regional Support Group has a long history of providing support for both state and active duty operations. The 213th Regional Support Group consists of more than twenty specialized units located throughout the commonwealth. The units that represent the 213th RSG include finance, maintenance, personnel, sustainment, transportation, engineer, military police, contracting, public affairs, and hazardous materials organizations.
For more information about the 213th Personnel Company and the 213th Regional Support Group ‘like’ the 213th Regional Support Group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/213RSG
Date Taken: | 01.13.2016 |
Date Posted: | 01.14.2016 10:41 |
Story ID: | 186275 |
Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
Web Views: | 603 |
Downloads: | 5 |
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