Photo courtesy Staff Sgt. Whitney Houston, Utah Army GuardLt. Col. Fred Friel, a physician assistant with the Idaho Army National Guard, performs a routine examination during a free medical clinic held last year at Bat Dang High School in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu Province. A group of 86 Idaho guardsmen will deploy on a similar mission in March.
Members of 116th to Deploy to Cambodia on Peace Mission
By Alison Gene Smith
alismith@magicvalley.com
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
BOISE • A select few among the Idaho Army National Guard’s 116th Calvary Brigade Combat Team are heading to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the third annual Angkor Sentinel, a humanitarian and peacekeeping mission.
About 86 soldiers from the 116th will travel to the country and work with the Cambodian Royal Army, with at least two coming from the Magic Valley region, said Col. Tim Marsano.
The event, which is considered a bilateral army-to-army mission, will occur from March 13-23, Marsano said. Many members of the 116th, about 1,500 Gem State soldiers, returned from a year-long deployment to Iraq in September.
The peacetime mission’s objectives are to improve peacetime support operations and to work on engineer and medical training, he said.
“We want to improve our own mission readiness,” Marsano said, “our ability to deploy and operate overseas.”
The group deploying was chosen for their specific skills, including medical personnel and trainers in specific areas.
Most of the soldiers’ time will be spent at the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Training School near Phnom Penh, where members of each army will help each other develop new skills, Marsano said.
“The main highlight of last year – and I expect this year – is the medical civil action project,” he said.
The project gives guardsmen a chance to provide medical attention to underserved populations in the area, including dental and eye care and regular medical procedures.
“Last year they provided treatment to over 5,000 Cambodians, and in a short period of time,” Marsano said.
In addition to medical treatment, during the last mission, guardsmen helped construct a three-room school, a drinking water well and a health clinic.
Along with American forces, 300 Cambodian soldiers were jointed by forces from Mongolia, Indonesia and Nepal.
Members of 116th to Deploy to Cambodia on Peace Mission
By Alison Gene Smith
alismith@magicvalley.com
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
BOISE • A select few among the Idaho Army National Guard’s 116th Calvary Brigade Combat Team are heading to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the third annual Angkor Sentinel, a humanitarian and peacekeeping mission.
About 86 soldiers from the 116th will travel to the country and work with the Cambodian Royal Army, with at least two coming from the Magic Valley region, said Col. Tim Marsano.
The event, which is considered a bilateral army-to-army mission, will occur from March 13-23, Marsano said. Many members of the 116th, about 1,500 Gem State soldiers, returned from a year-long deployment to Iraq in September.
The peacetime mission’s objectives are to improve peacetime support operations and to work on engineer and medical training, he said.
“We want to improve our own mission readiness,” Marsano said, “our ability to deploy and operate overseas.”
The group deploying was chosen for their specific skills, including medical personnel and trainers in specific areas.
Most of the soldiers’ time will be spent at the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Training School near Phnom Penh, where members of each army will help each other develop new skills, Marsano said.
“The main highlight of last year – and I expect this year – is the medical civil action project,” he said.
The project gives guardsmen a chance to provide medical attention to underserved populations in the area, including dental and eye care and regular medical procedures.
“Last year they provided treatment to over 5,000 Cambodians, and in a short period of time,” Marsano said.
In addition to medical treatment, during the last mission, guardsmen helped construct a three-room school, a drinking water well and a health clinic.
Along with American forces, 300 Cambodian soldiers were jointed by forces from Mongolia, Indonesia and Nepal.
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