415th gets big send off at Carville

• By KORAN ADDO
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Dec 4, 2008 - Page: 5A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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CARVILLE — Family members, soldiers and other well-wishers gathered Wednesday to send off 11 members of the Louisiana National Guard’s 415th Military Intelligence Battalion, departing today for training and then a year-long deployment in Afghanistan.

It will be the second overseas deployment for unit member Sgt. Garrick St. Romain, a 15-year veteran of the U.S. armed forces who fought in Iraq in 2005 and 2006.

St. Romain, 35, said he originally enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1993. He was medically discharged shortly after enlisting, but missed the camaraderie of the military and enlisted in the National Guard in 1995, he said.

“I really believe in this mission. Afghanistan is where the bad guys really are,” St. Romain said. “These are make-or- break times for that country and we need to make sure the country keeps moving forward.”

His mother, Patsy Becker, was more measured in her enthusiasm about the mission.

“When he went to Iraq, terror gripped my soul,” Becker said. “As a mother, I can’t go over there and be with my boy, so I’ll just have to put my trust in God.”

St. Romain and the other soldiers in his unit are scheduled to board a plane to Fort Lewis, Wash., today to begin a month-long training assignment before leaving for Afghanistan, where they will conduct counterintelligence missions and provide language support for other battalions.

Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Landreneau, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, encouraged the soldiers during Wednesday’s brief deployment ceremony attended by a crowd of about 100 people.

“You have answered the call to serve our nation,” Landreneau said. “This deployment is a reminder of who we are and what we stand for.”

First Lt. Lance Beal, who usually serves with the 256th Brigade out of Lafayette, said he enlisted in the National Guard because he admired the disaster recovery work the National Guard does in the state.

An overseas deployment was not something Beal, 25, said he envisioned in July 2001 when he enlisted. His mindset changed two months later after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, he said.

“I volunteered for this mission because I believe in this country,” Beal said. “I always wanted the opportunity to be a soldier and I took it.”

Capt. Thelma Piper, who will lead the unit while on active duty, fought back tears as she addressed the crowd during the ceremony.