CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq - Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Carpenter, acting director, Army National Guard, and Army Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Burch, command sergeant major, Army National Guard, visited here to check up on National Guard Soldiers and to listen to their comments and concerns.
"I appreciated the general and sergeant major taking the time out of their busy schedules to listen to the Soldiers," said Army Staff Sgt. Rodney Johnson, a medical logistics noncommissioned officer assigned to the 36th Infantry Division.
During Carpenter's visit, he talked with Guard members at a town hall meeting and received firsthand knowledge of daily living conditions, missions and challenges Soldiers face while deployed.
"We are all proud of you and we promise to keep fighting for the needs of our Soldiers," Carpenter said. "We are here to listen to your concerns and get them back to the leadership in Washington, D.C."
During a working lunch with key leaders of the 36th ID, Carpenter praised the Texas-based Soldiers for their pre-mobilization planning efforts, training and execution.
Carpenter and Burch fielded questions on a wide variety of topics from noncommissioned officer schooling to the newly proposed Army physical fitness test.
Senior leaders gave Carpenter a tour of base facilities, where he met National Guard Soldiers from other states supporting the division.
In addition to speaking with Guard members, Carpenter received a tour of the Troop Medical Facility where Army Maj. Scott Valley, 162nd Area Service Medical Company commander, and Army Capt. Donald Nodora, 297th ASMC commander, explained field medical operations and procedures. This gave Carpenter a deeper understanding of the mission-essential training needed before deployments.
Carpenter also met with members of the 501st Ordnance Battalion, where Soldiers showed him how they use certain types of equipment to disarm improvised explosive devices.
Carpenter is scheduled to meet with other guard units throughout Iraq.