MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS
NEWS RELEASE

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

1st Lt. Jarrett Feldman at 732-974-5966

       The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey has created a special exhibit to commemorate the five-year anniversary of the first N.J. Army National Guard unit to be deployed to a combat theater of operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 253rd Transportation Company of Cape May Courthouse.

      The 253rd was called up in February 2003 and supplemented by more than a dozen volunteers from other N.J. Army National Guard units.  By the end of the month the newly activated unit was stationed at Fort Dix training to enter a combat zone.

 

      On April 16, 2003 the 253rd arrived in Kuwait.  In the week that followed the Soldiers were lodged at Camp New York in the Kuwaiti desert, where they prepped their vehicles for the long haul to Logistical Supply Activity (LSA) Anaconda located in Balad, Iraq and the mission that lay ahead.

 

      Soldiers of the 253rd provided logistical support and various details for elements of the 101st Airborne Division, the 10th Mountain Division and the Special Forces Group, they returned back to New Jersey in April of 2004.

 

      The museum's display chronicles the 253rd from the mobilization at Fort Dix, New Jersey, to the challenge of driving the most dangerous roads in the world, and finally, their safe return to Cape May Courthouse a year later.

 

      The museum is located on the campus of National Guard Training Center, Sea Girt and is open Tuesdays through Thursdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free, although donations are appreciated. Access to the Training Center requires a photo ID for adults. For further information please contact the Museum at 732-974-5966.