By Staff
Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Derrick L. Barton has been mobilized and activated for deployment overseas to a forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Operation Iraqi Freedom is the official name given to military operations involving members of the U.S. armed forces and coalition forces participating in efforts to free and secure Iraq. Mission objectives focus on force protection, peacekeeping, stabilization, security and counter-insurgency operations as the Iraqi transitional governing bodies assume full sovereign powers to govern the peoples of Iraq.
Members from all branches of the U.S. military and multinational forces are also assisting in rebuilding Iraq's economic and governmental infrastructure, and training and preparing Iraqi military and security forces to assume full authority and responsibility in defending and preserving Iraq's sovereignty and independence as a democracy.
Barton, platoon sergeant/motor sergeant, is a member of the 157th Combat Support Services Battalion based in Willow Grove., Pa. The staff sergeant has served in the military for twelve years.
He is the son of Ralph and Rose Marie Barton of Hayes St., Brewton, Ala.
The reservist is a 1996 graduate of T.R. Miller High School.