The 26 Soldiers, just weeks away from tours in Iraq with the Division, chose to remain steadfast in their commitment to serve America during a ceremony designed to welcome the Soldiers into a new term of service.
The Soldiers repeated time-honored words during the oath of enlistment, expressing desire to continue to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of Minnesota against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Retention is an important mission of the Army National Guard and every other branch and component of the military. It ensures that experienced, knowledgeable and trained Soldiers remain with the force, and are available to train following generations of America’s service men and women.
“Good Soldier retention betters the organization,” said Sgt. Maj. Anthony Elden, retention NCO for the 34th Inf. Div. “When experienced Soldiers remain with the organization, it means there’s good morale. Retention is a direct reflection of an organization and how its members feel about that organization.”
Those who reenlisted were Pvt. 1st Class Brandon Diener of Roberts, Wisc.; Pvt. 1st Class Joshua Armagost of Hammond, Wisc.; Cpl. Nicholas Eichman of Eden Prairie, Minn.; Spc. Timothy Nace of Victor, Iowa; Spc. Eric Caron of Eagan, Minn.; Spc. Eric Scott of Fairbault, Minn.; Spc. Nathan Hoisington of Apple Valley, Minn.; Spc. Ifedayo Kila of Woodbury, Minn.; Spc. Brittany Quam of Lakeville, Minn.; Spc. James Finely of Hastings, Minn.; Spc. Ona Smart of Welcome, Minn.; Spc. Ben Baird of Apple Valley, Minn.; Spc. Shawn Obrien of Apple Valley, Minn.; Spc. Kyle Rizner of Brooklyn Park, Minn.; Spc. Lindsay Fox of Burnsville, Minn.; Spc. Joe Irrthum of Blaine, Minn.; Sgt. Amanda Bjurback of St. Paul, Minn.; Sgt. Cassandra Carrigan of Glencoe, Minn.; Sgt. Matthew Pantze of St. Joseph, Minn.; Sgt. Adam Hoffman of Avon, Minn.; Sgt. Travis Nickelson of Blaine, Minn.; Sgt. Anna Gillen of Fairbault, Minn.; Sgt. Arica Goeritz of Little Canada, Minn.; Staff Sgt. Heike Lewandowski of Long Prairie, Minn.; Staff Sgt. Marlon Zambrano of Astoria, NY; Staff Sgt. Nichole Leisher of St. Paul Park, Minn; and Staff Sgt. Jennifer Wunderlich of St. Paul, Minn.
The Soldiers have been living and training here, in the mobilization phase of their year-long deployment to Iraq. The Red Bulls will be in charge of leadership, command, control and in-depth analysis for a 16,000 person multinational division, and will have direct partnership with more than 40,000 members of Iraqi Security Forces.
