NORMAL (25 News Now) – The Illinois Army National Guard’s 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade has returned home – in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The last of the around 200 soldiers arrived after a successful deployment to Djibouti in Africa, according to a National Guard release.
During the deployment, they trained and operated with their Djiboutian partners as well as several other allies with forces in the Horn of Africa region.
The National Guard says Djibouti is a strategically important environment. Its proximity to one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world has made it a place of great interest to a lot of different nations that rely on goods being shipped through its waters. There are very few places in the world where different military installations from many different countries are clustered in close proximity, including China’s only overseas military base.
The Illinois National Guard soldiers worked with military forces from the Untied Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Kenya and South Korea along with Djibouti.
“The 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade – a unit based right in the heart of Illinois – did an outstanding job in one of the most strategically important areas of the world,” said Maj. Gen. Rich Neely, the Adjutant General of Illinois and Commander of the Illinois National Guard. “Many do not realize how Illinois National Guard service members make a positive impact around the world. The 404th is a great example of our citizen-Soldiers playing a vital role in our nation’s security.”
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