South St. Louis officer to lead troops on convoy mission in Afghanistan

By Bill Phelan
Ngmo.pao@US.ARMY.MIL

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mitchell J. Kytasaari, then 17, decided to join the Missouri Army National Guard hoping to make a difference. He will soon get the chance.

Now a platoon leader with the 1138th Transportation Company, based at Jefferson Barracks, 1st Lt. Kytasaari, of south St. Louis, will join about 170 of his fellow soldiers on a year-long convoy operations mission in Afghanistan. In preparation for that mission soldiers of the 1138th are undergoing intensive combat training at Fort Bliss, Texas.

For Kytasaari, the road to Afghanistan comes via four years as an enlisted soldier followed by the Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Missouri.

And while the 9-11 attacks are now more than 10 years in the past, Kytasaari has not lost his enthusiasm to fight terrorism, albeit tempered with the fact that he will soon lead troops in a war zone.

"What's going through my mind is that I need to be mentally and physically prepared for this mission," he said. "I'm a platoon leader and I need to set the example for my Soldiers."

A major challenge faced by National Guard troops being deployed to war is the transformation from part time Citizen-Soldier to a full-time war fighter.

"That's the difficult part," Kytasaari confessed. "Many Guard Soldiers have civilian jobs and do this part time but my challenge as a platoon leader is to always have that on my mind and that makes it a bit easier."

When not serving the state as a Guardsman, Kytasaari works as an insurance adjuster for Safeco Insurance in Fenton and said his employer is very supportive of his military obligation. Some of Kytasaari's co-workers attended the 1138th departure ceremony May 1 at Mehlville High School.

"The support of your employer and your family means the world to Guard Soldiers," he said, "and I couldn't ask for more support."

The 1138th Transportation Company is part of the 835th Combat Sustainment Battalion, based in Jefferson City.

Once in Afghanistan, the 1138th will assume convoy and route clearance missions from the 109th Transportation Company of the Alaska National Guard.

Lt. Kytasaari, who is single, is the son of James Kytasaari of Lawrence, Kan.
For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please visit www.moguard.com and our social media sites: www.facebook.com/Missouri.National.Guard; www.twitter.com/Missouri_NG; www.youtube.com/MoNationalGuard; www.myspace.com/missouri_ng; www.flickr.com/photos/missouriguard

-30-

For more information about this release, please contact UPAR Bill Phelan at 314-416-6639 or cell, 314-556-5428 or e-mail bill.phelan@us.army.mil