Photo By Chuck Cannon | Soldiers from Fort Polk’s 32nd Hospital Center attend a ceremony Feb. 13 bidding...... read more read more
FORT POLK, La. — The Fort Family bid farewell to 21 Soldiers of the 32nd Hospital Center as they prepared to head to Kosovo to provide medical support for American and allied forces serving in that European nation.
Col. Lee Burnett, commander, 32nd Hospital Center, said he was confident in the ability of the Soldiers who would represent both his unit and Fort Polk.
“They’ve trained and are prepared to meet any challenge they may face during the deployment,” he said.
Brig. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, commander, Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, echoed Bennett’s comments.
“These Soldiers going into Kosovo are well trained,” Frank said. “The 32nd has had an incredible training stretch over the past year. They’ve gone to JRTC, NTC (National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California) and now the same crew is headed to Kosovo.”
Frank said he was proud of the Soldiers standing in the formation.
“It means so much to our Soldiers out there to know we have a unit like the 32nd to provide medical support anywhere in the world,” he said. “The Soldiers in Kosovo have no concerns having this 32nd team in there providing their medical coverage.”
Felix Ayala, along with his children Felix Jr. and Noah, came to support his wife and children’s mother, Sgt. Aexodus Ayala.
“This the first time we’ve been separated due to a deployment,” Ayala, himself an Army veteran, said. “I’m a little worried. I want her to be vigilant and aware of surroundings, and also use the time to grow personally and professionally.”
Ayala said the couple met in the military. He said their two children will remind him constantly of his wife.
“It’s going to be rough, but she’s depending on me to make sure her children are safe,” he said.
Maj. Caitlin Ebbets is the commander of the detachment headed to Kosovo. Her mom, Janise Conway, made the trip from her home in Colorado to see her daughter off.
“I’m happy for her to be able to go and be in command, but there’s always that little nervousness or fear about what could happen,” Conway said. “I’ll keep her in my prayers and hope she is successful.”
Conway said it’s scary seeing her child deploy.
“My whole life has been about taking care of her, and providing her with what she needs,” she said. “Even now, I live in Colorado but I made the drive down to see her off and let her know her family loves and supports her. I’m proud of her. I get emotional talking about it.”
As for her daughter, Ebbets said she has no concerns about the Soldiers she’s leading.
“We have very good team of Soldiers who are proficient in their tasks,” she said. “The next three weeks we’ll be training with the rest of the team that will be in Kosovo. It should be pretty smooth when we get to Kosovo. We’ve got a lot of experienced Soldiers who will help each other.”
Although she’s told her mom not to worry, Ebbets said she’s realistic.
“It’s pretty special she came down to see me off,” she said. “I know she will worry, but I’ll do what I can to alleviate those fears.”
| Date Taken: | 02.21.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.21.2020 14:06 |
| Story ID: | 363630 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 32nd Hospital Center Soldiers head to Kosovo, by Chuck Cannon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
