Georgia Guardsmen training troops in Honduras
Posted: 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Georgia Guardsmen training troops in Honduras
By Jeremy Redmon
Waves of Georgia National Guardsmen are traveling to Central America, where they are training Honduran soldiers how to combat the drug smuggling plaguing their country.
More than 50 soldiers from Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team are in Honduras now. Three more groups are expected to travel there through June. In all, a little less than 200 Guardsmen will deploy as part of the mission.
They are training Honduran soldiers on marksmanship, combat medical care and military planning. Georgia’s 48th is the first National Guard unit of its kind to carry out missions through the U.S. government’s “regionally aligned forces” program.
“The flow of drugs is what we are trying to help them stop,” said Lt. Col. Ken Hutnick, commander of the Winder-based 1st Battalion of the 121st Infantry Regiment. “It is flowing from South America through Central America and into North America. You can connect the dots there. If we can help them do a better job, then we are only helping ourselves at home.”
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-military/georgia-guardsmen-training-troops-in-honduras/nfwCz/
(Short article, no more at link.)