98th Maintenance Company to deploy Published Jan. 20, 2012 By U.S. Army Alaska news release JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- A ceremony to recognize the upcoming deployment of the 98th Maintenance Company will be hosted at the Alaska National Guard Armory Monday at 3 p.m. Approximately 130 Soldiers will be deploying in February for a 12-month tour of duty in Kuwait where they will provide vehicle maintenance, welding and fabrication and repair parts supply. Soldiers in this company repair radios, computers, small arms, generators and air conditioning units and they send teams out to provide maintenance for other units. The unit also has wreckers to assist in recovering any type of wheeled or tracked vehicles. The unit has a long history with service in World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Iraq and most recently in Afghanistan from May 2009 to May 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 98th Maintenance Company is a subordinate unit of the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 2nd Engineer Brigade at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Lt. Col. Andrew Mergens, commander of the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, will be the host for the ceremony.