About 600 San Diego-based troops will begin a seven-month deployment in Afghanistan in the coming weeks. The first group of Marines and sailors left Wednesday after a steak and egg breakfast at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
The members of Wing Supply Squadron 373 are headed to Afghanistan’s Helmand province where they will support a Marine combat unit.
The unit’s commanding officer Lt. Col. Thomas Fahy addressed the troops over breakfast and urged them not to let concerns at home distract them from their mission.
“It takes a certain type of person to join the Marine Corps. And as you look to the left and you look to the right I want you to keep that in mind. Because that Marine and that sailor is what you need to focus on. We will go together and we will all come back together,” he said.
Cpl. Alec Zielke is one of the deploying Marines. He said the traditional breakfast helps build unit morale.
“It felt great," he said. "I believe it builds camaraderie between me and my fellow Marines. It brings everyone together, to have a good time before we ship out.”
The unit’s remaining members will leave next week. The Miramar troops join about 100,000 American soldiers already in Afghanistan.
