SALEM, Ore. – More than 200 Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers from the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team stood in formation June 14 at the Salem Convention Center, where families, leaders and community members formally welcomed them home from a nearly year-long deployment to the Horn of Africa.
"More than 200 Soldiers deployed. More than 200 now here at home," said Brig. Gen. Philip DeMontigny, assistant adjutant general, Army, Oregon National Guard. "The mission was accomplished. The standard was upheld. Oregon is proud."
Soldiers from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, and A Company, 741st Brigade Engineer Battalion, mobilized in May 2025 and returned home April 3. They deployed as part of Task Force Bataan, a multi-state National Guard formation of more than 1,100 Soldiers from Oregon, New Mexico, Washington and Louisiana. The task force operated in support of U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Africa Command, conducting security and base defense at military installations in Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia. DeMontigny, who previously served in the Horn of Africa and commanded the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team earlier in his career, brought a personal perspective to the welcome home.
"I know the climate. I know the distance from home. I know what that deployment asks of a Soldier and a family," he said.
Capt. Nathan Scull, commander of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, said Oregon Soldiers built lasting infrastructure for U.S. forces in the region. Engineers from A Company, 741st Brigade Engineer Battalion, constructed three new training ranges at Chabelley Airfield, Djibouti, and fielded a new secure communications network supporting the Djibouti Base Cluster.
"U.S. AFRICOM command didn't just approve the new network," DeMontigny said. "They designated it as the standard for every other base in the region to follow."
At Chabelley, Oregon Soldiers also stood watch over MQ-9 Reaper drones conducting reconnaissance and strike missions across the U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Central Command areas of operation. Those missions resulted in the neutralization of more than 300 enemy combatants during the rotation.
At Kismayo Airfield, Somalia, Oregon mortarmen from B Company conducted counterbattery fire on the point of origin of an Al-Shabaab rocket attack within three minutes.
"Three minutes," DeMontigny said. "That is training, discipline and the calm that only comes from Soldiers who know their job and trust the person next to them."
The task force partnered with service members from Greece, Italy, France, Lithuania, Japan, Germany and Spain, hosting foreign badge events that included the Norwegian Foot March and the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge. Oregon Soldiers supported Naval Special Warfare operations against ISIS-Somalia and were chosen for a sensitive detachment supporting the search for an American hostage taken in West Africa. Scull served as officer-in-charge, with 1st Sgt. Richard Bradeen as noncommissioned officer-in-charge.
"You too served," DeMontigny told the families and employers in the audience. "You managed households, took care of children, held down your own jobs and absorbed the uncertainty so that your Soldier could be mission focused."
He pointed to three values that carried the Soldiers through the rotation: "You were connected. You were competent. You were committed."
Gov. Tina Kotek also addressed the formation, thanking the Soldiers and those who supported them at home.
"The relationships that you have formed with other units from other states, as well as other countries, are really, incredibly important," Kotek said. "You have represented Oregon beyond reproach with such talent, with such skills, with such commitment."
When the Soldiers returned home April 3, they reunited with their families at their local armory during a welcome-home and yellow-ribbon event. Sunday's official ceremony provided a final formal recognition of their service.