U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. Charles M. McCollum 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.
McCollum, a military police member, is a member of the 939th Military Police Detachment, Indianapolis. He has served in the military for more than six years.
His wife, Alexandra, is the daughter of Dean A. and Patricia A. Stevens of Danville.
The sergeant is a 2002 graduate of Ben Davis High School.
