JBER’s Spartan Brigade marks redeployment

  • Published
  • By Sgt. 1st Class Jason Epperson
  • 4-25th ABCT PAO
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Friends, family members and Alaska community leaders gathered at Sullivan Arena Thursday as paratroopers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, formally marked the completion of the unit's latest combat mission to Afghanistan.

About 3,500 airborne-qualified Soldiers from the six battalions of the 4-25th ABCT have returned from combat operations in Afghanistan. This marks the third combat deployment for the brigade.

Among the dignitaries on hand to congratulate the brigade were Gov. Sean Parnell, U.S. Army Alaska Commanding General Maj. Gen. Michael X. Garrett and U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, the latter in a pre-taped welcome video.

In his remarks, Garrett thanked the audience for being there for "our beloved airborne brigade combat team."

Garrett also acknowledged the families of Soldiers the brigade lost during the deployment.

"Today, we remember that the homecoming you experience is a heartbreaking one," Garrett said. "Know that your loved ones will never be forgotten. They live in the hearts of every paratrooper they lived, laughed and fought for."

Garrett referred to the brigade's Soldiers as "tough, battle-hardened paratroopers" and acknowledged he has a special affinity for the 4-25th ABCT.

"What set this brigade apart in Afghanistan is not what you see, but what you don't see, their minds and their hearts," Garrett said. "The Spartans made it their business to make sure that as they defeated their enemies on the battlefields, they didn't create new ones."
He closed his comments with an acknowledgement of the families.

"The list of sacrifices you've made is long and known only to you," Garrett said. "No one can ever give you back that time, yet no one can ever take away the pride that you feel in your heart and in your souls."

As civilian leaders stepped up to speak, each commented on the sacrifices and commitment to duty of the 4-25th ABCT Soldiers.

"We are here to honor your excellent work," Parnell said. "I'd like to honor you personally for the time and sacrifices you've made and given, the events you've missed, birthdays, anniversaries, fishing trips postponed and celebrations that you had to see pictures of from far away. That's why we're here today - to honor that life commitment that you've made.
Commander of the 4-25th ABCT, Army Col. Morris T. Goins, stood at the lectern, but later took the microphone and walked in front of the formation to speak.

"To stand behind the podium is overwhelming," Goins said.

"Almost a year ago we stood here saying farewell and promised to you that we would not let you down," Goins said. "Combat hardened, but also soft. That's what makes a paratrooper so great."

Goins spoke of the popular television show CSI, to shed light on one of the brigade's accomplishments in Afghanistan. "There is Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Miami but the one you don't know is CSI Afghanistan," he said. "That CSI, whose cast members are the paratroopers behind me, has enrolled 82,000 people in ," Goins said. "That allowed the paratroopers behind me to send hundreds of people to jail."

After Goins thanked the families and troops the USARAK Army band played the U.S. Army Alaska March and The Army Goes Rolling Along, completing the ceremony.