Djibouti’s CAMP Lemonnier – This month, the Virginia and Kentucky National Guard soldiers serving with the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, completed a nine-month security deployment for the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Mission.

The 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment of the New York Army National Guard, also known as Task Force Wolfhound, received authority from Task Force Red Dragon on September 19.

On November 27, about 1,000 soldiers from Virginia and Kentucky started performing federal active duty. After finishing their assignment, they head back to Virginia and Kentucky.

The TFRD leadership team, Col. Jim Tierney and Command Sgt. Maj. Doug Wolfe, cased the battalion’s colours to signal the end of its deployment.

The leadership of the task force’s subordinate officers, NCOs, and Soldiers has been a major factor in our success here, Tierney added. Their sense of responsibility, selflessness, and commitment to the achievement of the mission are admirable.

The purpose of CJTF-HOA operations is to strengthen partner nation capabilities, advance regional peace and stability, prevent war, and safeguard the interests of the United States and the coalition.

The commanding general of CJTF-HOA, Maj. Gen. Jamie Shawley, spoke to the audience during the event on the significance of the security mission in Africa Mission.

It’s a geostrategically significant location, according to Shawley. shaped by the opposing forces of wealth and poverty, peace and war, abundance and hunger, and good graduation administration and corruption. The rules-based global order is threatened by the instability brought on by violent extremist groups and by our strategic rivals, and Red Dragon, you have filled the void the entire time.

The soldiers of Task Force Red Dragon and their numerous allies were thanked by Tierney as he welcomed Task Force Wolfhound.

As a task group, “we joined together to fight and to win,” Tierney added.By working together for certain exceptional partners, we honed our edge  After this deployment, our Soldiers become accomplished professionals in their fields. Observing the team’s development over the past year is satisfying. Red Dragons, you genuinely represent the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the 29th Infantry Division’s next generation of commanders.

TFRD Achievements

Task Force Red Dragon had a presence in Djibouti, Somalia, and Kenya and provided security personnel throughout the Horn of Africa. This defensive duty involved securing U.S. and partner soldiers, civilian contractors, and military installations around-the-clock. The task force also provided security for a number of port visits by the U.S. Navy, allowing American ships operating in the vital Bab-el-Mandeb strait to refuel and undergo maintenance.

The East Africa Response Force’s ground element was also supplied by TFRD. To be prepared for emergencies that could arise in East Africa, the EARF performed monthly emergency deployment preparation drills.

The EARF assisted Department of State missions during the deployment in Nairobi, Kenya; Mogadishu, Somalia; and Durban, South Africa. In order to practise bolstering contingency support positions in East Africa, the EARF also carried out two emergency deployment preparation drills.

By acting as our local 9-1-1, you immediately assisted us in achieving our goals, Shawley stated. As part of the East Africa Response Force, Red Dragon performed a number of preparedness drills for our embassies and outposts in order to guarantee the security and well-being of American troops not just in East Africa but also across the entirety of Sub-Saharan Africa. Your successes and sacrifices simply enhance your already illustrious legacy.

Without a doubt, you did a fantastic job representing the United States, the United States Army, and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Mission.

The TFRD Soldiers engaged in a variety of training while they were deployed, from drills with foreign military partners to use of weapons ranges. The TFRD E-4s participated in the U.S. Marine Corps Corporal’s Course, took the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge tests, participated in medical evacuation and mass casualty exercises at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, and other locations of Japan, went on a spur ride with the task force’s cavalry troopers, and completed the 18.6-mile Norwegian Foot March. The GAFPB was earned by 49 TFRD soldiers, the cavalry spurs by 27, and the Norwegian Foot March badge by 123.

The deployment of the task force included significant foreign engagement. More than 75 joint operations and training drills with the armed forces of France, Kenya, Japan, Italy, Spain, and Djibouti were carried out by TFRD.

The task force had a particularly tight relationship with the French Armed Forces in Djibouti, taking part in Operation Sunrise Strike in August and Exercise WAKRI, the biggest annual French-led exercise in Djibouti, from March 13 to 15. The task force’s capacity to work with its French allies in a joint and combined setting was confirmed by that combined weapons live-fire exercise.

Additionally, the French Desert Commando Course saw the graduation of more than 20 task force personnel.

Task Force Red Dragon deployed the following Virginia and Kentucky Army National Guard units:

116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, located in Lynchburg

– The Bedford-based Alpha Company of the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s first battalion of infantry

– The Lexington-based Bravo Company of the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment

– The 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s Pulaski-based Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment

– The Lynchburg-based Golf Company of the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s 429th Brigade Support Battalion

– The 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s Bravo Troop, 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment, located in Suffolk

Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, located in Charlottesville

– The Somerset, Kentucky-based Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Kentucky Army National Guard