Hotel Company - Heartbreakers - 334th BSB begin deployment

A send-off ceremony was held on May 28 for Hotel Company - Heartbreakers - 334th BSB, Forward Support Company for the 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment. The guard soldiers departed for the  Joint Readiness Training Center at Ft. Johnson, La., for training, which will be followed by deployment overseas in July or August. Around half of Red Oak’s National Guard unit is being deployed.
The upcoming deployment is in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the United States’ and its coalition partners’ fight against ISIS, in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. During this mission, Hotel Company members will be joining coalition forces and others to provide security, support partner nations, and contribute to the efforts of maintaining stability in the Middle East. The battalion will move into theater and will conduct a relief in place with the unit currently assigned to the mission, the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division. The deployment is expected to last for one year.
Former Hotel Company commander and United States Senator, Joni Ernst also spoke during the event. Ernst said it was around 22 years ago that she was standing in that very armory, taking her own unit out for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“This unit has gone through many different changes through the years, and Captain Tanner Hull is a great example of this with his family. He had a great grandfather that served in this company here in Red Oak, and had a grandfather that served in this company when it was the 1168 Transportation Company. I served in this company when it was 1168. My father served in this company when it was 1168, Ernst said. “It is now Hotel Company, and let me tell you, you have on your shoulders a great responsibility. You will go forth, you will serve your country, you’ll serve your state, and most importantly, you’re going to serve the communities that sent you into the Iowa Army National Guard.”
Mayor Shawnna Silvius also expressed her appreciation to those in attendance for supporting the unit as it began its deployment, and acknowledged Red Oak Police Officer Ethan Stewart, who is deploying from Carroll.
Hull said he couldn’t be prouder of everybody that showed up to support the company.
“I’ve been the commander of this unit for two years and seven months, and I get to take the Hotel Company forward to JRPC down in Louisiana. We’re going to train for roughly a month out in the swamps of Louisiana and have a great time. It’s going to be the culminating event on my almost three years of building this company and having these soldiers build me as a leader. And I’m beyond proud to be able to say that I can be their commander. To the soldiers, it’s been great so far, and it’s going to continue to be great,” advised Hull. “As we all know, my command time ends at the end of JRPC, so I get to go forward with you guys to support Operation Inherent Resolve as a fellow soldier, not just your commander. Like Senator Ernst said, it just so happened to be fate that I was picked as commander of this unit. With the deep family history I have, I’m a third-generation member to serve out of the Red Oak Unit. I wear that badge of honor. It means a lot. This unit means a whole lot to the state of Iowa.”
Hull was presented an Iowa flag by Sen. Ernst. The command was charged to fly it high as a beacon of strength, safeguard it with pride, let it witness the courage of the soldiers, and bring it home with the mission complete and formation intact.