44th Medical Brigade holds deployment ceremony

By Tina Ray
Paraglide

Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 44th Medical Brigade were recognized in a 10 a.m. ceremony, Friday, at Dahl Gym.

About 90 members of the brigade deployed to Afghanistan Monday to provide support to more than 40 medical units, said Capt. Demetrius N. Roberts. The support will include services in preventive medicine, dental, veterinary and mental health.

“I’m fully confident that the Soldiers and leaders standing before you today are more than prepared for this mission that we are about to assume,” said Col. Donald R. West, commander, 44th Med. Bde., in remarks to his troops. “We all understand that the mission is a noble mission.”
West said that the troops are, without question, trained and ready.

Spc. Eugene Sapinski, HHC, 44th Med. Bde., is under West’s command. The two-year-veteran said it would be great to serve his country. Sapinksi left behind a two-month-old daughter, Alexandria; wife, Britni; parents, Michael and Kyong, all of whom joined him at Friday’s ceremony.
Of leaving his daughter, Sapinski said, “I’m going to miss everything — walking, crawling, her first tooth.”

It is a sacrifice the Family seems to recognize has to be made but Britni said, “I’m just really sad about it. I’m hoping he comes back safe.”

It is the sentiment of support that Maj. Gen. Rodney O. Anderson, deputy commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, touched upon in his message to the troops.

“I know that you are ready for the mission. I also know that your readiness comes directly from your love and support of your Family,” Anderson said.

The mission in Afghanistan will be to provide medical support and to provide increased capability and capacity for the Afghan people, Anderson added. He told the troops to take care of the mission and place it first, to take care of themselves and their Families and to take care of each other.

In his closing message, Anderson recited the combat medic prayer, which reads in part, “ . . . Help me be the finest medic, both technically and tactically.”

“I just couldn’t be in the military and not deploy,” said 1st Sgt. Carlos Sernas, the 44th Med. Bde.’s first sergeant and a 23-year veteran in the armed forces. Sernas said he has previously been to Iraq twice. “It means a lot, especially being a first sergeant and being in as long as I have. I’m just doing my part to go during this conflict.”

First Sgt. Andrea Morgan, of Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, said she traveled four and a half hours from Fort Gordon, Ga. to show support to Command Sgt. Maj. Iteago L. Felton, command sergeant major of the 44th Med. Bde. He was once her command sergeant major, she said.

Britni said she thought the deployment ceremony was nice.

“It was very nice because it made the deployment so real,” she said.

There seems to be no doubt that the 44th Med. Bde. is up for its mission.

“They are all ready to go,” Sernas said.

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