Around 50 members of the Ohio Army National Guard's 684th Medical Company, based in Columbus, are being called to duty Saturday before deploying to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, a region stretching from Egypt to Kazakhstan. The unit, which traces its lineage back more than a century, will provide medical support and evacuation capabilities as part of the deployment.
The soldiers will be honored at a call to duty ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday in Columbus, according to NBC4 WCMH-TV. The deployment supports Operation Spartan Shield, a mission that has offered what officials describe as a consistent American presence in the Middle East since September 2012. Through the operation, Task Force Spartan maintains a U.S. military posture in Southwest Asia intended to strengthen defense relationships in the region, according to U.S. Army Central.
A Unit With Roots Back to 1921
The 684th Medical Company was founded in Westerville, Ohio, and was first organized on May 14, 1921, per the same NBC4 report. The company transferred its home base to Columbus in 2007 and has served in World War II as well as the war on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, making this latest deployment part of a long institutional history rather than a new mission for the unit.
Operation Spartan Shield itself is characterized as a stability operation rather than a combat mission, and the deployment is not directly linked to the war in Iran, per the station's reporting. Soldiers deployed under the operation are not expected to face active war zones, though they may provide support if a conflict arises where they are needed, NBC4 reports.
Death Toll Context and a Guardsman's Loss
The Pentagon lists 19 U.S. military deaths connected to the Iran war, and per the Pentagon, none of those deaths are included within Operation Spartan Shield. Multiple reports have estimated the broader Iran war death count at 22 or more, according to the same NBC4 account, though the operation the Columbus unit is joining is described separately from those figures.
One of the guardsmen who served under Operation Spartan Shield was Maj. Sorffly Davius, a 46-year-old New York Army National Guard officer from Queens who was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 42nd Infantry Division, out of Troy, New York. Davius had been deployed under Operation Spartan Shield in 2025 and died in March at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, of undetermined causes, as reported by Military Times. The NYPD, where Davius had also served as an officer, said he died following a medical episode while deployed to Kuwait, and Military Times reported the incident remained under investigation.
That same outlet noted that CENTCOM had separately reported a service member seriously injured on March 1 during an Iranian attack on U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia later died from those wounds, with 18 additional troops wounded during what CENTCOM called Operation Epic Fury. Those events were reported alongside, but distinct from, Davius's death and the broader Spartan Shield mission.
What Comes Next for the Columbus Company
For families and neighbors in Columbus, Saturday's ceremony marks the formal send-off for a unit whose medical mission now extends well beyond Ohio. The 684th Medical Company's century of service, from its 1921 founding in Westerville through World War II and the post-9/11 conflicts, continues with this latest chapter supporting a mission officials describe as aimed at strengthening defense relationships in the Middle East rather than direct combat.
