National Guard units will be deployed to Iraq in '08
Freehold woman asks for donations to help make troops' lives easier
BY MARK ROSMAN Staff Writer

As the war in Iraq nears the five-year mark and the war in Afghanistan moves through its seventh year, reinforcements from New Jersey will soon be on their way overseas.

That means people on the homefront are being asked to continue their efforts to support the troops who will be marching into harm's way and to help the families the soldiers will leave behind.

On Oct. 18 Maj. Gen. Glenn Rieth announced that the New Jersey Army National Guard's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will be deploying to Iraq in 2008. The brigade deployment will bring the total number of New Jersey soldiers now being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to more than 3,200, according to a press release from the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Additional units being sent overseas include an embedded training team, two aviation units and a military police company. All units will be mobilized for one year, which includes stateside training and "boots on the ground" in theater, according to the press release.

These units join a New Jersey Air National Guard security forces squadron already on a tour of duty in Iraq, conducting base security and entry control missions. In addition to the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployment to Iraq, four other New Jersey Army National Guard units are involved in deployments in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

According to Rieth, the Adjutant General for New Jersey, the 50th Brigade will be conducting a variety of important missions in Iraq. The brigade's pre-mobilization training began immediately and will take place in New Jersey, with further theater-specific preparation being conducted out of state, according to the press release.

"We will ensure that our soldiers are fully mission capable and ready to deploy ... and that their families are taken care of back home," Rieth said.

The news of this latest National Guard deployment has once again prompted Mary Ellen Berryman, of Freehold Borough, to take action. As she has done several times in the past, Berryman is rallying support for the troops by asking area residents to donate items that will be shipped overseas and help make life a little more bearable for the men and women who are serving the United States.

Berryman, a loan officer (Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act), has worked with veterans and said she feels a connection to those who leave their families behind and put themselves in harm's way thousands of miles from home.

The following items are needed: shampoo, shaving cream, dental floss, toothpaste, toothbrushes, Tums, sunscreen lotion, wipes, lip balm, razor blades, mouthwash, soap (Ivory), batteries (AA, AAA, D), bug spray, Sternos (for heat), international phone cards, DVDs, cigarettes, pens, flip pads, instant coffee, sugar packs, powdered milk, hot chocolate, ice tea mix, dry mix drinks (Kool Aid) and hard candy.

Items may be dropped off at the National Guard Armory, Route 33 Freehold, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, Berryman said.

Berryman may be contacted at (732) 431-0111.

The soldiers and their families are supported by the New Jersey Army National Guard Family Assistance Center, Toms River. The Toms River unit supports the Monmouth and Ocean county area, according to Maria Morro, coordinator of the Family Assistance Center.

The Family Assistance Center collects the items that are donated and arranges for them to be shipped overseas, she said.

Berryman said Ladies Workout Express, 130C Route 79 south, Marlboro, has said it will extend a free membership to spouses of deployed military personnel. For more information call Joyce Musacchia, (732) 845-2900.