In The Service

Local Women Soldiers Serving In Iraq

BELLE GLADE, FL. -- Army Master Sgt. Tanya W. Toussaint is currently deployed as a member of Task Force Marne, one of more than 20,000 soldiers from the Fort Stewart, Ga.-based 3rd Infantry Division and elements of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky.

Toussaint is a human resources supervisor with 18 years of military service. She is the daughter and stepdaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rupert Raymond of S.W. Avenue G Place, Belle Glade, Fla. Her husband, Patrickson, is the son of Evelyn LeBlanc of Crenshaw Blvd., Inglewood, Calif.

Army Sgt. Ellen D. Mason is also currently deployed as a member of Task Force Marne. In addition, Sgt. Mason has been decorated with the Army Commendation Medal.  Mason is a multichannel transmission systems operator-maintainer with the 3rd Signal Company, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division.  Her home station is Fort Stewart.  She has served in the military for more than four years. She is the daughter of Lisa M. Cirino-Lan of Kentucky Ave., Clewiston, Fla.

The soldiers are serving a 15-month tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. With more than 53 patrol bases within their area of operation, the task force has made significant strides in enhancing security in the region.  Since the arrival of the task force more than a year ago, violence in the region has been reduced by more than 75 percent.
    
The decrease in violence has allowed the task force to focus on rebuilding efforts, including local governance and economic development, along with medical treatment missions, providing fresh drinking water and working with local security forces and volunteers to provide a broad blanket of stability to the region.