Plant City community comes together to support deploying National Guard unit

Photo By Ching Oettel | Approximately 30 Soldiers with the Florida National Guard's Battery A, 3rd Battalion,...... read more read more

Photo By Ching Oettel | Approximately 30 Soldiers with the Florida National Guard's Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment stand in formation during their departure ceremony in front of the historic Milton E. Hull building at the Florida Strawberry Festival Fairground in Plant City. This building housed members of the Plant City-based FLNG unit from shortly after World War II until their current armory was constructed many decades later.  see less | View Image Page

PLANT CITY, FL, UNITED STATES

04.25.2018

Story by Staff Sgt. Carmen Fleischmann 

Florida National Guard Public Affairs Office

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Hundreds of Plant City residents, leaders, family members and friends gathered around a small formation at the historic Milton E. Hull Armory on the Plant City Strawberry Festival Fairgrounds. Their local Florida National Guard unit, Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery, is deploying to South-Central Asia for a year-long mission in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel.
Capt. Brian Cain, commander of Battery A, thanked everyone for attending the departure ceremony and wanted to especially recognize the family members who Soldiers are leaving behind.
“[Your Soldiers] have received much recognition for their superb performance, and have been certified by the state of Florida as prepared to go to war, but none of this would have been possible were it not for the strength your support has provided all of us,” said Cain. “Knowing that we have your continued love and friendship while we are overseas will fuel our success and make our return so much sweeter. This deployment is as much, if not more, of a challenge for those of you remaining behind.”
Deann Marasco, Family Readiness Coordinator for 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment is no stranger to managing the home front, as she has seen her husband through two deployments already.
“When you go through this, I think the greatest thing you can do is build resiliency,” said Deann. Even though this is her third time saying farewell to her husband, she won’t say that the separation gets any easier, but she feels more prepared for the adjustment and does what she can to help other spouses make it through the process.
“Most importantly, we are a family together. We’ll get through this together,” said Deann. “A military family is very unique and special, so first I listen and address their needs as they come.”
In addition to all of the many family members present at the departure, Deann also recognized the outpouring of support from the Plant City community. She said that many of its organizations and leaders have voluntarily donated resources to family members of the deploying Soldiers.
“The local community always embraces us. These are their brave Soldiers going out,” said Deann. “They support the families. We couldn’t ask for a better place to be to get that support.”
Michael Sparkman, the current City Commissioner, former Mayor of Plant City and a former Florida National Guardsman as well, says Plant City has always shared a deep appreciation for its military members. In fact several high-profile residents served their state and nation, including Terry O. Ballard, former city mayor and city commissioner, who went on to serve as a brigadier general in the Florida National Guard.
“That’s where a lot of our military support came from, because we’ve had so many people involved in the local National Guard unit,” said Sparkman.
Sparkman himself served as a corporal with the same unit deploying today. During his tenure in the late 1960’s, the unit’s headquarters were in the Milton E. Hull Building, with their artillery stores in warehouses stored behind it. All of these historic landmarks still stand at the Florida Strawberry Festival Fairgrounds while the current Battery A drills in a newer armory nearby.
The building was constructed shortly after World War II by the Works Progress Administration. Personnel assigned to the project, many of whom were Plant City residents and Soldiers who had just returned from war, pulled rocks from the Hillsborough River to construct the facility.
“This building was Fort Milton E. Hull National Guard Armory when it was first built, and was named after Milton E. Hull, another Plant City resident and Guardsman, who rose to the rank of colonel within the Florida National Guard after enlisting as a private,” said Sparkman.