August 20, 2016 –
Army Reserve Soldiers with the 3297th United States Army Hospital, Army Reserve Medical Command, gathered one last time at its battalion headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the colors were cased during a deactivation ceremony here, Aug. 20.
“We have a short history but a proud one,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Mark Allen, 3297th USAH command sergeant major.
“I’ve met and talked to a lot of the former Soldiers that showed up here today and listened to their stories. It’s a very proud moment for me to be the one to furl those colors, but I feel slight at the same time as the one who has to carry that torch.”
Organized in Atlanta Georgia, on Aug. 22, 1990, in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq, the 3297th was attached to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Georgia.
While the headquarters element was mobilized to Fort Gordon during that time, the medical personnel of the battalion were scattered to various Army Medical Centers throughout the continental United States as well as overseas in Kuwait.
The battalion was re-organized and its headquarters element was moved from Atlanta to Fort Gordon in the mid-1990’s; and then again in 2008 as it found its final home in Charlotte.
“I am very grateful to all of the Soldiers of the 3297th. We were asked to do this during turbulent times in the Army Reserve with headquarters standardization with minimum staffing and minimum resources and we did it flawlessly,” said Col. James Murphy, 3297th United States Army Hospital battalion commander.
The battalion will be officially deactivated on Sept. 15, and will transition to become the 7409th U.S. Army Troop Medical Clinic.
“These Soldiers have done great things over the last two and a half decades. They’ve helped run our Army’s hospitals and they’ve taken care of our Soldiers both at home and abroad. I am very proud of all of them,” Allen said.