Freedom Salute honors Guard unit for service in Afghanistan

Chad Brown went to Afghanistan as a specialist and came home a sergeant.

A member of the Springfield-based 233rd Military Police Company of the Illinois Army National Guard, Brown was deployed to Kunar Province with the 1st Team of the 14th Agribusiness Development Team and was part of a group that provided security for the unit.

Brown, a 25-year-old mechanic from Macomb, was honored Saturday with a Center of Influence award for outstanding service. The award, a large framed mosaic print of the American flag, was presented during a Freedom Salute ceremony held at Springfields Hoogland Center for the Arts to honor the 1-14th ADT.

He stepped up and did what sergeants do, the units commanding officer, Col. Fred Allen, said after the ceremony. (He) was aggressive about learning new things, was aggressive about stepping up and taking on responsibility and just did a very great job in a very quiet but excellent way.

Brown, who was promoted during his deployment, said he was surprised when he heard his name called for the award.

Its actually a pretty big honor, Brown said. I didnt know that was going to happen.

All the members of the 60-person unit received tokens recognizing them for their service.

Those who were on their first deployment, including Brown, received an American flag in an engraved display case, among other mementos. Soldiers who served their second and third deployments received other commemorative items.

The unit was deployed in Kunar Province on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border from April 2011 through this April. While there, it was tasked with training farmers, working with Afghan agriculture officials, and establishing an Agricultural Extension Agent program.

The thing that didnt exist when we got there that did exist when we left was a strong relationship between the college of agriculture in Kunar, the local farmers and government employees at the district level, and the leaders in agriculture up at the provincial (level), Allen said. We feel very good about leaving Afghanistan knowing that those guys are working together for the future of agriculture in Kunar Province.

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Freedom Salute honors Guard unit for service in Afghanistan