September 29, 2017
By Dan Mika
Boone — The residents of Boone (click here) were joined by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg to give an emotional farewell Friday evening to National Guard troops deploying to the Middle East.
One hundred eighty troops from the Boone-based 248th Aviation Support Battalion are deploying to Kuwait next month. Families and friends packed into every seat in the Boone High School bleachers and wherever they could find room.
Ernst, a former member of the 248th, told the soldiers joining the unit taught her leadership and accepted her as a sister in arms.
“The bonds you will come to have in the next year will lead you through many, many more years,” she said. “When you leave the National Guard, those friends will last you many years.”
Gregg, who became lieutenant governor earlier this year under Gov. Kim Reynolds, said the battalion was shipping out alongside 200 troops from other Iowa battalions to tours of duty....
