Army Sgt. Andrew P. West
Army Sgt. Andrew P. West has returned to Fort Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska, after being deployed to Afghanistan for one year. The soldier is one of 3,500 members of the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Richardson.
Airborne combat team members included soldiers assigned to one of six battalions and regiments of the 25th Infantry Division.
The airborne brigade served in three eastern provinces of Afghanistan, which included the Paktya, Paktika and Khost. Some of the challenges the brigade soldiers faced included poverty, unemployment, security, and management of natural resources and government institutions. Soldiers improved roads,
provided vocational training in construction and civics, improved and re-opened 29 schools, remodeled six medical clinics and improved three district courthouses.
While deployed in Afghanistan, he was decorated with an Army Commendation Medal.
West, a squad leader, is assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute
Infantry Regiment. He has five years of military service.
He is the son of Thomas D. West of Milwaukee, Wis., and Anna G. Wein-berg of Fort Myers.
His wife, Jamie, is the daughter of Cindy Creto-wicz of Cocoa, Fla.
The sergeant is a 2004 graduate of West Shore Junior-Senior High School, Melbourne, Fla.