Despite ongoing talk of its closure, Fox News reports that an Arizona Army National Guard unit will begin the New Year in Cuba – deploying to Guantanamo Bay for approximately nine months.
Once there, they’ll be on a joint task force helping to augment staff.
These soldiers leaving for Guantanamo Bay in the coming days in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
“There was some discussion some time back about actually shutting it down. Right now that’s not what’s going to happen so it’s still very important for us service members to be prepared to go and continue that mission,” said Arizona Army National Guard Command Sergeant Major Fidel Zamora.
That’s exactly what nearly 50 Arizona Army National Guard soldiers will soon be doing.
“Part of that is being able to inform and advise the Joint Task Force Commander there on military police tasks and procedures and part of that is just making sure that the staff runs effectively on a day to day basis,” said Colonel Rich Baldwin, the Land Component Commander of the Arizona Army National Guard.
This mission is so sensitive we were asked not to show the faces of these soldiers and their families.
“We don’t want to telegraph to the world who is going, who’s there and who’s performing this mission because they all have families that are still back here while they’re overseas doing this mission,” Colonel Baldwin said.
Fox notes that these soldiers won’t have contact with the detainees and they are expected to be deployed for about nine months.
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