National Guard to honor Piqua unit as it deploys

The Ohio Army National Guard will honor about 160 soldiers from the 1487th Transportation Co., based in Piqua, as they prepare for deployment.

The company is readying to depart for a yearlong deployment in support of U.S. Central Command operations, the Guard said Thursday.

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The public is invited to the unit’s call-to-duty ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, at Piqua High School, 1 Indian Trail, Piqua.

A National Guard spokeswoman said this will be an overseas deployment. She declined to specify where the unit will be deployed.

“This deployment has been planned for a while and is not in response to … any current event,” said Stephanie Beougher, a public information officer for the Ohio National Guard.

 

While deployed, the unit will provide transportation assets and support to units across its area of responsibility, the Guard said. The 1487th, nicknamed the “Iron Camels,” has previously deployed, most recently in 2012-13.

The Ohio National Guard has more than 16,000 Army and Air National Guard personnel across the state who respond when called for federal, state, and community missions.

Before returning home in 2013, the Piqua unit served in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, supplying bases throughout the southern part of that country. In total, soldiers drove more than 170,000 miles on some of the region’s most dangerous roads.

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