| Missouri National Guard schedules departure ceremony for 3-135th Theater Aviation Battalion |
By: Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs
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FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (March 18, 2010) — A departure ceremony for 10 Missouri National Guardsmen from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3-135th Theater Aviation Battalion, of Lebanon, has been scheduled for 11 a.m. on April 16 at the Blue Moon Theater.
The unit is slated to deploy to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Its mission is to provide command and control, supervision, staff planning and unit level personnel service and logistical support for all units that belong to or are attached to the theater aviation battalion.
As part of its daily mission, the unit will perform command and control for 11 C-23 Sherpas, four C-12 Hurons and one UC-35 Cessna Citation. Through the use of these fixed-wing aircraft, the unit will provide a forward-deployed aviation battalion, which provides air movement of cargo, personnel, and military/civilian dignitaries from the United States, NATO, and Iraq, throughout Iraq and the Central Command area.
These Guardsmen also will be responsible for the flight following, air tasking orders, mission scheduling, and diplomatic flight clearances for all aircraft assigned to the battalion.
The unit is commanded by Capt. Seth Everett, who lives in St. Louis. Other members of the unit live in Lebanon, Eldon, Versailles, Linn Creek, Mountain Grove, Dixon, Dexter, Hallsville and Jefferson City.
The unit previously deployed to Balad in 2005. There, it provided theater airlift support throughout the entire Central Command Area of Operations to include, Iraq, Qatar, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Europe and 21 other countries in Africa.
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