New Rochelle National Guardsman Preparing to Deploy to Kuwait

New Rochelle resident Jabari Skeene is in Camp Shelby, Mississippi preparing to deploy to Kuwait in April.

Skeene’s unit, New York City’s 69th Infantry Regiment, is one of several New York State Army National Guard soldiers who are heading to the Middle East. Also mobilizing are the New York National Guard’s 108th Infantry Regiment (Utica, NY) and 27th Brigade Combat Team (Syracuse).

Jabari Skeene lives on Lincoln Avenue in New Rochelle. On December 9th, the New Rochelle Fire Department responded to a “Christmas Tree” fire at his family’s house at 147 Lincoln Avenue.

The 69th Infantry Regiment is known as the “Fighting Sixty-Ninth”, a name said to have been given to it by Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. This unit is also the original owner of “Fighting Irish” nickname, which the University of Notre Dame inherited via chaplains who served with the unit during the Civil War.