304th Company prepares for yearlong deployment

Date: 12/8/2009

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE -- Emotions were evident as friends and families gathered at the Arthur MacArthur Reserve Center on East Street in Springfield Wednesday morning to formally say good-bye to the approximately 170 men and women of the 304th Transportation Company.

The Army reservists gathered to begin a yearlong deployment to the Middle East. After a training period at Fort Dix in New Jersey, the troops will "perform short and long-haul missions in both Kuwait and Iraq," according to an Army press release.

The reservists come from 14 states and about 60 percent of them have already served overseas.

Brig. Gen. Peter S. Lennon, U. S. Army Reserve, the commander 316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), Coraopolis, Penn. (of which the 304th Transportation Company is a unit) asked people to look at the right shoulder of the reservists' uniforms. Many had insignias that indicated they had already served in Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait.

"There is combat savvy in this team," Lennon said.

Lennon described the unit's mission as "hugely important." He explained the unit will be "the meter of the flow" of troops and cargo as personnel are drawn down from Iraq and redeployed elsewhere.

He said the troops would find their new mission "one of the most challenging, but one of the most rewarding."

First Sgt. John Ilnicki, a 24-year Army veteran and a Chicopee resident, explained the unit has a history dating back to 1943 and was originally based in Pittsfield. The current unit was reactivated in 1995 and later moved to Springfield.

Ilnicki noted the depth of his responsibility -- "I have a lot of soldiers to take care of" -- and promised, "They will all come back with us."

A representative from Senator John Kerry's office was in attendance as well as members of local veterans groups.

Lennon warned the families of the reservists that "things are going to happen" at home and urged them to get to know one another and to be in contact with the 304th's Family Readiness program.