CENTENNIAL — Army Space Support Team 24, comprised of Colorado National Guard Soldiers from the 117th Space Battalion, will be honored at a departure ceremony at Fort Carson today.

Family, friends and dignitaries will gather at the 168th Regiment, Regional Training Institute, to bid farewell to the six-member team as they prepare to depart for the Middle East to support U.S. Central Command operations.

“Colorado’s highly-skilled National Guard space warriors are trained and ready to deploy to the war fight,” the Adjutant General of Colorado U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Mike Loh said. “The support of their families, civilian employers and communities is the key to their mission success.”

Army space support teams are small, highly trained and specialized teams that enable operations by maximizing military use of space-based assets to include satellite imagery, missile warning systems, satellite communications, space-based weather, and global positioning system capabilities for combatant commanders.

During this deployment, ARSST-24 will perform a variety of important missions in the defense of its nation and coalition partners.

The soldiers will play an important role in defeating adversaries by providing direct support to war fighters on the ground in the USCENTCOM area of responsibility and will play a key role in the strategic deterrence of regional state actors against American and coalition forces and interests in the Arabian Gulf region.

Since 9/11, the 117th has provided regular space support to joint war fighting headquarters during overseas contingency operations. The 117th is the only unit of its kind in the Army National Guard.

The unit also has a distinguished history of support to domestic operations, including Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts; the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver; Colorado wildland fire response missions during the Black Forest, High Park, West Fork Complex, and Waldo Canyon Fires; and, historic flooding in Colorado in 2013.

A state-of-the-art readiness center that is under construction at Fort Carson will serve as an epicenter of ARNG Space Operations, bringing $18 million in jobs into the Colorado Springs economy.  

The soldiers will train, learn, improve and, if necessary, operate from this location to support war fighters across the world.