The bags are packed and the soldiers of the 1221st Transportation Company are leaving Fort Leonard Wood today for their overseas deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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The bags are packed and the soldiers of the 1221st Transportation Company are leaving Fort Leonard Wood today for their overseas deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
?I am ready to go over and do what we need to do, do it well, and then get everyone back home safely to their families,? said Sgt. Patrick Lackman, 32, of St. Thomas.
The unit, located in Centertown, Dexter and Trenton, has been at Fort Leonard Wood since mid-March preparing for this deployment. The unit has participated in a variety of activities, including rail loading of equipment, a field training exercise and validation for deployment. Many of the unit members deployed for Operation Desert Storm with the unit more than a decade ago.
?It?s completely different this time,? Lackman, a Desert Storm veteran, said. ?Back then, I was 19 years old, right out of high school. At that age you are fired up and ready to go. I am still ready to go, but this time I am leaving my wife and three children.?
Lackman has been preparing his wife, Melissa and sons Joshua, 10, Lathyn, 5, and Dawson, 4, for this deployment for quite a while.
?I have spent a lot of time making sure my wife knows where things, like the main water line, are around the house,? he said. ?I?ve been stockpiling wood for our stove for about 6 months, and I?ve made sure she has a working lawn mower.?
Spc. Corey Roark, 20, of Jefferson City, has been paired with Lackman as a driving partner is the unit?s 915 tractor trailers.
?I feel like I have the best partner in the company,? Roark said. ?My parents feel like I am very safe because he has been there done that, knows what he is doing and has a good head on his shoulders.?
Leaving parents can be just as hard as leaving a wife and kids, Roark said. Coming from a strong military family, he feels lucky to have such strong support.
?I told his wife I would take care of him and he told my parents he would take care of me,? Roark said.
The 1221st is a medium truck transportation company designed to haul a variety of equipment and supplies for an area commander.
The unit is leaving Fort Leonard Wood with approximately 700 soldiers from the Missouri National Guard?s 203rd Engineer Battalion and approximately 50 soldiers from the 1138th Engineer Battalion.
The transition from Missouri to Southwest Asia will be difficult, Lackman said. It is hard to pack everything you have in two duffle bags and a ruck sack and move from place to place until you find your next home, he explained.
?I am nervous and excited at the same time,? Roark said. ?Nervous because I don?t really know what is going to happen next and excited because I get to be a part of this whole thing.?