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Senator Dave
Schmidt to be activated for guard duty and sent to Baton Rouge
October 3,
2005
OLYMPIA - Sen.
Dave Schmidt, a Republican from Mill Creek and 22-year member
of the Army National Guard, will be activated and sent to
Baton Rouge, La.
“It’s an honor to be called up,” Schmidt said. “It’s
why we in the guards do what we do – to serve, to make a
difference whenever and wherever called upon.”
Schmidt leaves Wednesday for the Gillis Long Center in
Louisiana as a part of Joint Task Force Pelican. He will be
joining a former Washington state representative, Col. Phil
Dyer, at the joint operations center where all National Guard
activities are being coordinated. He will serve as Col.
Dyer’s administrative NCO (noncommissioned officer) for a
month. He is scheduled to return the first week of November.
Schmidt’s call to active duty is a bit rare, he said.
“Normally, you have a whole unit called up. But in this
case, more administrative help is needed. And the lessons
learned here will be an invaluable tool in helping shape our
state’s plans for future emergency responses,” he said.
“As co-chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans’ and
Military Affairs, I’ll be in a position to take the
experiences from this deployment and apply them in a hands-on
fashion.”
While Schmidt’s activation is a singular one, he will soon
be joined by hundreds of Washington National Guard members.
“We will have approximately 600 soldiers from the 81st
Brigade on the ground in Louisiana patrolling the region and
providing security and assistance for those who are coming
back to repopulate the area,” Schmidt said. “I consider it
a privilege to be part of this contingency from Washington
state.”
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