LIVERMORE FALLS – A reserve officer in the Livermore Falls Police Department is one of a dozen Maine Army National Guard soldiers going overseas to serve between 12 and 18 months in Afghanistan.
John Furr, 25, of Livermore Falls, who has been working full-time for the police force while officer Brock Caton is training at the Criminal Justice Academy, reported for duty Saturday.
Furr is a member of B Company, 3rd Battalion of the 172nd Mountain Infantry, the same company Caton serves with.
Furr’s last day at the Livermore Falls Department was March 3, said Police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. Fellow officers and dispatchers held a goodbye party for him.
Furr, who had volunteered for the assignment, had been on a list for this service.
But the actual deployment call came quickly for him, Steward said, and he was deployed March 5. He and other soldiers will undergo training before going to Afghanistan, the chief said.
Furr started with the Police Department in August. He’d previously been employed at the Washington State Department of Correction and at Maine Yankee, and had served in the Air Force in a police unit.
Soldiers from Farmington, Fayette and Lisbon Falls also are going on the mission.
Back home, Steward said, reserve officer Steve Smith of Wilton would help the department during the absence of Caton and Furr.
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