The 949th Transportation Company to Deploy for Kuwait Next Month

Members of the U.S. Army Reserve's 949th Transportation Company ate breakfast with family Tuesday as they prepared to deploy for Kuwait next month.

The 17 men and women left the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Curtis Bay for Fort Dix, NJ, to train before heading to the Middle East in March where they will perform contingency operations with U.S. forces, said 1st Sgt. John Highfill.

“They’ll be moving cargo up and down the Persian Gulf … [moving] vehicles, containers and some people,” he said.

Highfill said the mission in Kuwait will be the first deployment for most of the soldiers in the unit.

Sgt. Nigel Sonnylal, formerly of Essex, is leaving 2-year-old son Nathan for about a year but said he knows his son will be in good hands.

“I’ve never been away from him that long,” he said, adding that he knows the mission will be a good experience. “Anything it takes to help fight against terrorists and protect the country.”

Sonnylal, who joined the Army Reserves eight years ago, said he always wanted to join and after Sept. 11 he knew he had to.

“I’m prepared for the worst and will make it the best,” he said of his deployment.

Highfill said the unit will stop in ports such as Bahrain, Dubai and other areas in the United Arab Emirates.

Staff Sgt. Harold Merson of Lanham, who has been in the Reserves for 21 years, returned from Kuwait in November 2007 after a year deployment. He said he served in a different transportation unit where his mission kept him on land.

“I love boats so sailing on the Persian Gulf is going to be interesting,” he said. “I need to buy a fishing rod.”