CONTACT: Mr. Eric Durr, 518-786-4581, cell 429-5186

FOR RELEASE: Sunday, Mar 01, 2009

ON SITE: 1LT Laura Brown, 646-413-1232

WHO:

Approx. 130 Citizen Soldiers and family members of the National Guard's 133rd Quartermaster Company

WHAT:

Members of the New York Army National Guard's 133rd Quartermaster Company will hold a family reunion ceremony for the unit's demobilization after their successful support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

WHEN:

10 a.m., Sunday, February 29, 2009

WHERE:

New York State Armory, 355 Marcy Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11206

The 133rd Quartermaster Company mobilized in early March 2008 following an intensive annual training period in February 2008 to conduct individual Soldier training at Fort Dix to prepare for the unit's deployment to Iraq. The unit completed its collective unit training at Fort Bliss, Texas before deploying overseas. Members of the 133rd Quartermaster Company provided logistical support for Coalition Forces in Iraq with approximately one-third of the unit personnel trained as petroleum supply or water treatment specialists. The Quartermaster Supply Company establishes and operates general support supply facilities to receive, store and issue general supplies for military forces. These supplies consist of subsistance or foodstuffs, individual Soldier clothing and equipment, packaged petroleum products and construction or barrier materials for engineering projects. On Dec. 21, 2008, New York Gov. David Paterson and Congressional Representatives Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens, N.Y.) and Steve Israel (Democrat, Long Island, N.Y.) handed out Yankee and Mets baseball caps during a visit to Iraq with Soldiers from the Brooklyn-based company at Al Asad Air Base's Dining Facility. The company was responsible for several important sustainment operations at Al Asad. The unit managed a food distribution warehouse and fuel logistics yard, providing everything from food for the troops to fuel for convoys and helicopters. In addition, the Soldiers managed a water purification and distribution site. "As a quartermaster unit, the quartermaster motto is 'supporting victory,' and that's what we do," said Capt. Tony Plata, 133rd Quartermaster Co. Commander, from the Bronx. The 133rd QM Co. had to do a lot of adapting to accomplish their mission, Plata said. The unit was initially made up almost entirely of clerks, some of whom had to retrain as fuelers and water purification experts. "The guys have definitely stepped up to the plate and show they're capable," Plata said. "We can definitely help out the regular Army any time we're called."