New Jersey Soldiers lower last U.S. flag flown at Camp Taji

Photo By Capt. Aaron Moshier | (Courtesy photo by Maj. Arnold Adams)  

TAJI, IRAQ

08.22.2020

Courtesy Story

New Jersey National Guard   

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Soldiers from the 42nd Regional Support Group, New Jersey National Guard, lowered the last U.S. flag to be flown here, Aug. 22, 2020.

The flag represented the last U.S. flag to be flown over the base operating support integrator (BOS-I) headquarters at Camp Taji, which was currently operating under the 42nd RSG team.

Since 2014, Camp Taji served as a primary installation for Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve and other military and civilian organizations united as part of the international mission to defeat Daesh in Iraq. The camp was home to more than 2,000 military personnel and 16 coalition forces that trained the Iraqi Army to fight and defeat Daesh. As the mission drew to a close, the camp was turned over to Iraqi security forces during a ceremony Aug. 23.

The Somerset-based Soldiers were a select group specifically chosen to close down the camp in preparation to handover the camp to Iraqi security forces. The Soldiers began their preparation for this task last winter and culminated their training to support Operation Inherent Resolve during three grueling weeks at Fort Hood before deploying to Iraq.

The 42D RSG Soldiers packed and shipped more than 230 pallets of meals-ready-to-eat and five trailers containing meat products to other bases with an estimated value of $1.7 million, and inspected and cleared more than 50 facilities to be turned over to the Iraqi security forces. In addition, the Soldiers facilitated the preparation and moving of numerous military equipment from the camp that required more than 100 planes and 600 trucks. All these tasks completed while under the dangers of rocket attacks.

“I am proud of these Soldiers for accomplishing the task of closing Camp Taji,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. William Bono, BOS-I director at Camp Taji. “This is a historical event these Soldiers can say they were a part of.”

• Date Taken: 08.22.2020
• Date Posted: 09.03.2020 16:19
• Story ID: 377373
• Location: TAJI, IQ