GLENVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Twenty-three New York Army National Guard Soldiers said farewell to friends and family Thursday before being deployed to the Middle East.
“He’s worked hard, and it’s sad to see him [go], but we’re proud of him and all the guys here,” said Hiromi Otomo, seeing off her husband, Daniel Ambia.
Ambia is Chief Warrant Officer 2 with the 501st Ordnance Battalion, heading to Kuwait with his fellow soldiers. He held a long embrace with his children after the farewell ceremony.
“It’s not the first time we’ve been separated, but it’s the first time for this long of a period of time,” said Ambia, “it’s pretty difficult. I don’t know, it’s kind of like a rollercoaster of emotions.”
The soldiers, based out of the Glenville Armed Forces Reserve Center, will first go to Fort Indiantown Gap near Harrisburg Pennsylvania, and Fort Bliss, Texas for additional training before going to the Middle East.
“We are a support headquarters company for explosive ordnance disposal battalion,” Ambia explained, saying the team is ready for its duties. Some of their drills in preparation happened virtually because of COVID-19.
“To prepare for deployment and have such a small amount of time working together is pretty incredible,” Ambia said, “but I think we’ll be okay. Everybody is pretty good at what they do.”
This will be the third deployment for the battalion headquarters since it was organized. In this most recent deployment, the battalion will oversee explosive ordnance disposal missions throughout the Central Command area of responsibility as part of Task Force Spartan, the U.S. Army force in the region.
