Senator Collins Attends 286th Combat Service Battalion Hero Send Off Ceremony
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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins delivered remarks at the Hero Send Off Ceremony for the 286th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion at Bangor High School.
“The history of our nation is written in large part by our citizen soldiers,” said Senator Collins. “Through nearly two centuries of exceptional service, the Maine Army National Guard has earned an honored place in this history. When duty calls, the men and women of Maine answer willingly and courageously.”
“There is no cause more noble than preserving America’s freedom and extending freedom’s blessings around the world,” Senator Collins continued. “The 286th advances that cause. I join with all who love freedom – here and around the world – and salute you. God bless you all, and God bless America.”
Seventy soldiers from the Bangor-based 286th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion are deploying to Poland in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve and will return in early 2020. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014, U.S. forces have been rotating through Europe for this vital mission to deter Russian aggression and conduct multinational training with our NATO allies and other European partners.
Senator Collins has championed policies to strengthen our nation’s commitment to members of our military, veterans, and their families. Just this week at an Appropriations Committee hearing with the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Senator Collins praised the Maine National Guard’s role in the State Partnership Program to prepare Montenegro for accession to NATO and discussed the importance of the 286th’s deployment to Europe.
