FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) More than 100 Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) will return to Fort Campbell from their deployment to Djibouti.
A welcome home ceremony is scheduled for the afternoon of March 28 at Fort Campbell’s Hangar 3, according to Fort Campbell Public Affairs.
These “Blue Spader” Soldiers were deployed to Djibouti from October 2018 through March 2019. There, the Soldiers made up elements of the East African Response Force. The EARF, under the command and control of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, provides a combat-ready rapid deployment capability to support crises operations in the U.S. Africa Command Area of Responsibility.
In January, 2019, it demonstrated its rapid response capabilities, deploying to Libreville, Gabon in support of potential unrest in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. Upon arrival in Gabon, the EARF Soldiers established contact with the U.S. embassies in Gabon and the DRC, as well as with the Gabonese Republican Guard and emergency medical personnel.
After several weeks monitoring the situation in the DRC and because anticipated violence did not occur, the EARF redeployed to Camp Lemonnier to stand by for the next rapid response request.
“I am glad to be a part of this mission as it is unlike anything I have done previously,” said U.S. Army Capt. Connor McCarthy, the commander of B. Company, 1-26th Inf. Bn. “Essentially, our company [was] able to be the primary response force for the majority of the African continent.”
Second BCT, “Strike,” is the 101st Abn. Div.’s Regionally Aligned Force supporting U.S. Army Africa events and exercises across the African continent this year. USARAF brings the Army team to assist our partners in building ready forces and operating as part of a multi-national coalition.