National Guard members honored before deployment from Martinsburg

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — More than 160 members of the West Virginia Army National Guard were honored Tuesday with a deployment ceremony.

The 157th Military Police Company, 771st Troop Command Battalion will be deployed to the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. This is the unit’s first deployment to support efforts at Guantanamo Bay.

The ceremony was held at the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg.

Maj. Gen. Jamers Hoyer speaking during Tuesday’s deployment ceremony. Photo: Senior Master Sgt. Emily Beightol-Deyerle/U.S. Air National Guard

“While this unit is not going to a combat zone, it is going on a complex mission,” state Adjutant General James Hoyer said. “A mission that’s important to this country because they’re going to be the line of defense between us and some folks who are not so good people who wish to do harm to our country.”

The guard members are stationed out of Martinsburg and Moorefield.

They will leave for mobilization training at Fort Bliss in Texas in the near future.

The deployment will be for around a year.