December 12, 2003
December 12, 2003
LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm has asked state lawmakers to approve funding so nearly 900 Michigan National Guardsmen can be with their families for the holidays later this month before they are deployed overseas.
The funding, which the Granholm administration included in a supplemental appropriation approved by the State Senate and now awaiting approval by the House of Representatives, will enable citizen soldiers to come home during their December 23-27 furlough recently approved by the U.S. Department of Defense.
"The families of nearly 900 soldiers in the Michigan National Guard will have their fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and spouses home for the holidays because of this bipartisan agreement to do the right thing for our citizen soldiers," Granholm said. "These men and women are prepared to put their lives on the line for our freedoms, and we owe each of them a debt of gratitude."
The Governor proposed the funding because while the soldiers have been given a four-day furlough, the federal government is prevented from paying their transportation costs to come home.
All of the soldiers will be deployed overseas in January. The units include:
•1-125th Infantry (Flint) – 449 soldiers will travel home from Camp Atterbury, Indiana – scheduled for deployment to the Sinai Peninsula;
•1-119th Field Artillery (Lansing) – 222 soldiers will travel home from Fort Dix, New Jersey – scheduled for deployment to Guantanamo, Cuba;
•163rd Personnel Service Battalion (Lansing) – 28 soldiers will travel home from Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin – scheduled for deploying to Iraq;
•1440 Engineering Detachments (Grayling) – 48 soldiers will travel home from Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin – scheduled for deployment to Iraq; and,
•Company F, 425th Infantry (Selfridge ANGB – Mt. Clemens) – 140 soldiers will travel home from Fort Bliss, Texas – scheduled for deployment to Iraq.
The supplemental appropriation in HB 4367 will authorize up to $100,000 to transport the soldiers home.
Transportation from New Jersey, Indiana, and Wisconsin will be provided by the Blue Lakes Charters & Tours bus company. Soldiers returning home from Texas will be flown home by Opportune Airlift provided by the Michigan Air National Guard.
The soldiers affected come from cities throughout Michigan including Albion, Alma, Alpena, Augusta, Big Rapids, Charlotte, Cheboygan, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Grayling, Lansing, Port Huron, Saginaw, and Wyoming.
