As 2-year-old Alina Ward took in all the camouflage uniforms in the hotel conference room, she suddenly saw a familiar face.

“Daddy!” Alina called out as her father, Capt. Cameron Ward, stepped up to the podium. Ward, the Commander of the Illinois Army National Guard’s 1863rd Financial Management Support Detachment, wasn’t home for nearly half of his young daughter’s life, but Alina knew who her father was.

The approximately 25 Soldiers of the Chicago-based unit gathered with their families on Feb. 2 in Oak Brook to celebrate the accomplishments of the unit during its 11-month long deployment to Poland. It was the last event of the unit’s reintegration training scheduled about 90-days after the unit returned just before Thanksgiving. They deployed in January 2024 and were deployed for about 11 months.

“Families, thank you for your support of your Soldier and our organization,” said Brig. Gen. Lenny Williams, the Assistant Adjutant General – Army of the Illinois National Guard and Commander of the Illinois Army National Guard. “They could not accomplish their mission without it.”

And the small unit accomplished a lot with the support of Alina and the rest of the 1863rd’s families.

“This was a unit built on Soldier care,” Williams said. The unit processed transactions for over 3,000 Soldiers who where missing entitlements across European Command fixing those issues and getting the troops paid. “That is true Soldier care and it relieved stress on the Soldiers and their families,” Williams said.

The Soldiers also disbursed millions of dollars to Special Operations Command personnel to ensure mission success, Williams added. “The bottom-line is these Soldiers excelled in their mission and we all should be very proud.”

Ward said the team hit the ground running in Europe, splitting into three teams at Camp Kosciuszko, Forward Operating Site Powidz, and Forward Operating Site Zagan in Poland. The unit’s Soldiers traveled to eight or nine locations, including in Romania and Lithuania, to support military financial operations in support of Operation European Assure, Deter, and Reinforce in January.

“We are incredibly proud of this team,” Ward said when the unit returned in November. “They put in a lot of hard work and learned a lot which they spread to other Soldiers in the unit.”

Ward said the 1863rd maintained disbursing operations

“Our military pay team at Camp Kosciusko assumed full responsibility for in-processing active-duty Soldiers arriving to U.S. Army Garrison-Poland,” said Sgt. 1st Class Connie Huff, the 1863rd’s first sergeant, when the unit returned.

Ward said the unit had a few notable events throughout the rotation.

“Our detachment’s noncommissioned officer strength increased as one of our Soldiers was promoted to sergeant and one to staff sergeant,” he said. “Sergeant Lachin Khasanov, disbursing manager, and Staff Sergeant Richard Nieves, disbursing agent, were each promoted to their current ranks.”

Ward said the unit’s disbursing teams supported a number of operations with sizeable currency exchanges and cashing treasury checks to support various missions in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility.

“Sergeant Calista Roberts created a strong working relationship with the Germany Military Pay Center of Excellence. This relationship with the 21st Theater Sustainment Command allowed the 1863rd to receive additional classes on military pay to expand services in this area.”

Huff said the military pay and disbursing teams pushed out of their respective operating sites to offer services to surrounding sites across USAG Poland.

“Our team at Powidz conducted site visits to Forward Operating Site Torun every Thursday to issue Eagle Cash Cards,” she said. “The team in Zagan conducted weekly rotations to the six operating sites within their area of operations to assist with military pay and issue Eagle Cash Cards.”

Huff said Eagle Cash Cards allows Soldiers to purchase items at the Army Air Force Exchange Service’s rodeo which travels to the forward operating sites throughout the far west side of Poland. The rodeo only accepts the Eagle Cash Cards as payment.

“Most rotational Soldiers deploying to Poland arrive without the card and are unable to purchase necessary items from AAFES,” she said. “The traveling disbursement teams were largely able to alleviate the issue.”

Ward said the 1863rd’s Soldiers also took advantage of volunteer opportunities as well as opportunities to take online classes outside of their normal duty.

“We had a team visit a local orphanage and Soldiers visit a local school to learn about the Polish Constitution,” he said. “Out of the 24 Soldiers who deployed, 14 took online college classes in efforts to complete a bachelor’s degree.”

Soldiers also took advantage of opportunities to participate in additional military training.

“We had a number of Soldiers who completed the German Armed Forces Badge, the Norwegian Foot March, and the Luxembourg March,” Ward said.

USAG leaders were impressed with the 1863rd FMSD’s performance and three Soldiers accepted offers to return to Poland on Active Duty for Operational Support orders.

Staff Sgt. Richard Nieves, disbursing manager, accepted the position of noncommissioned officer in charge at FOS Zagan.

“In this position, he will assist with logistically planning and garrison liaison with the rotating units,” Ward said.

Sgt. Robert Chromniak, military pay chief at FOS Zagan, will become the noncommissioned officer in charge at Camp Karliki.

“His ability to speak fluent Polish was instrumental to the unit’s success at FOS Zagan,” Ward said. “U.S. Army Garrison Poland considers him a huge asset and will use him not only as the noncommissioned officer in charge for one of their remote sites, but as a liaison to our Polish counterparts.”

Spc. Alexis Roberts, military pay technician at Camp Kosciuszko, will serve in the garrison’s in-processing office.

“Her ability to learn quickly and identify new processes to expedite the link between Camp Koscuisko’s in-processing office and finance office has earned her a new role as well,” he said. “I have no doubt the three Soldiers will represent the 1863rd and Illinois National Guard well in the U.S. European Command.”

This mission was the first overseas deployment for the 1863rd.

The 1863rd is a relatively new unit, having been organized on Sept. 1, 2018. The 1863rd received its federal recognition on Dec. 18, 2020. While this is the first overseas mission for the unit, the 1863rd was activated by the state of Illinois in April 2020 to operate community testing sites in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Soldiers, be proud of your service and accomplishments and cherish the comradery and memories made while serving something greater than yourselves,” Williams said.