SALEM, Ore. – A mobilization ceremony for the Oregon Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery Regiment will be held at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon at 1:00 p.m., on August 9, 2024, as Soldiers prepare for a year-long mobilization. 

The unit will be mobilizing as part of Task Force DEFENDER, and will be conducting rocket, artillery, mortar and unmanned drone defense operations in the Middle East. Prior to departing overseas, they will first undergo training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma to enhance their proficiencies on the equipment and systems that they will operate as the primary air defenders that American and Coalition partners rely on for force protection.

Upon completing their training, Task Force DEFENDER will be assigned to Iraq and Syria in support of OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE, whose mission is to advise, assist, and enable partner forces to secure lasting defeat of terrorist elements across the Central Command Area of Responsibility.

“The Oregon National Guard continues its legacy of simultaneously serving Oregonians with domestic operations here at home while also answering the call for federal mobilizations supporting the United States, said Brig. Gen. Alan R. Gronewold, Adjutant General, Oregon.  “This is what makes the Oregon National Guard the military service of choice for Oregonians.”

Attendance for this event is reserved for service members, their families and invited guests.  The public can watch the ceremony via live streamed and can be viewed at:  www.pacificu.edu/mvs-218

It will also be live streamed on the 41st Infantry Division Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1658604261564488/

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