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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Although they didn’t know it when they left their home state in the heat of the pandemic seven months ago, Alaska Army National Guard Capt. Jessica Miller, a registered nurse with the Medical Detachment, and Sgt. 1st Class Juan Restrepo, a logistician in Joint Force Headquarters, were going to be the last rotation of Alaska National Guard liaisons accompanying the Mongolian Expeditionary Task Force to Afghanistan. They flew home to Alaska July 21, 2021, as the final redeployers of the mission that debuted 18 years ago.
The partnership between Alaska and Mongolia was officially formalized in early 2003. Shortly afterwards, the Mongolian Armed Forces deployed troops to the Polish base, Camp Charlie, in Al Hillah, Iraq as part of the multi-national security force supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. After seeing the Illinois National Guard liaisons embedded with their Polish counterparts, the MAF requested that the Alaska National Guard send support in the same manner.