Members of the New York Army National Guard's 501st Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) mobilized this week for service in support of contingency operations overseas.
Some 34 New York National Guard Soldiers and four troops from outside of New York will serve with the 501st Ordnance Battalion Headquarters and train to lead ordnance disposal companies in southern Iraq for Operation New Dawn later this year.
Deploying with the New York National Guard is Lieutenant Colonel Robert Mitchell from Ballston Lake, NY.
The unit is expected to serve one year on active duty with the Soldiers retuning back to the Capital Region in the early fall of 2011.
501st Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD):
Based at the Scotia Armed Forces Reserve Center the 501st EOD battalion is a headquarters unit which is able to take control of two to five Explosive Ordnance Disposal companies in a combat zone. The 501st is the higher headquarters for the New York Army National Guard's 1108th EOD Company, also based at the Scotia Armed Forces Reserve Center, along with EOD companies in Greenville, North Carolina, Camp Edward, Massachusetts, Camp Dawso, West Virginia, and Camp Grayling, Michigan.
In the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, explosive ordnance disposal experts are in the frontlines removing bombs and clearing roads so that Soldiers and supplies can move and so civilians are safer. Since the 501st was converted from an infantry unit in 2005 it has sent EOD Soldiers to both combat theaters.
The 501st traces its roots back to the New York National Guard's historic 105th Infantry Regiment , known as the " Appleknockers," because historically the Soldiers of the regiment worked in the apple orchards of the Hudson Valley as civilians. The regiment fought in World War I and World War II before converting to an EOD battalion in 2005.
The 501st also serves as the higher headquarters for the New York Army National Guard's 102nd Maintenance Company, 138th Public Affairs Detachment, and 1427th Transportation Company.
