A WARM SEND-OFF: Some 200 soldiers from the 1498th Transportation Company, California Army National Guard, are given a send-off by their unit and the community at March Air Reserve Base last week as they head out for a one-year deployment in Iraq. More than 700 family members attended the event which will be their last physical contact with the Soldiers until they return in 2009. Brigadier Gen. Keith Jones, Assistant Deputy Adjutant General for California; Wally Rice, representative for Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley; Riverside Councilman Steve Adams and Colonel Lisa Constanza, 224th Sustainment Brigade commander, were a few of the guests present. After the formal ceremony, the troops and their families were treated to lunch at their unit while the children enjoyed playing on a bouncer and having a clown paint their faces. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj Don Traud, 452 AMW/PA
A WARM SEND-OFF: Some 200 soldiers from the 1498th Transportation Company, California Army National Guard, are given a send-off by their unit and the community at March Air Reserve Base as they head out for a one-year deployment in Iraq. More than 700 family members attended the event which will be their last physical contact with the Soldiers until they return in 2009. Brigadier Gen. Keith Jones, Assistant Deputy Adjutant General for California; Wally Rice, representative for Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley; Riverside Councilman Steve Adams and Colonel Lisa Constanza, 224th Sustainment Brigade commander, were a few of the guests present. After the formal ceremony, the troops and their families were treated to lunch at their unit while the children enjoyed playing on a bouncer and having a clown paint their faces. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj Don Traud, 452 AMW/PA