The Florida Army National Guard's 1/111th Aviation Battalion is heading off to the Middle East, and Gov. Rick Scott was at Cecil Field for deployment ceremony.
In his remarks, the governor praised the National Guard's record of going overseas, as well as their work within the United States.
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"Our National Guard, your National Guard, has been deployed more than 100 times since 9/11 to protect freedom across the world," Scott said.
After the ceremony, Scott spoke about his repeated attempts to get the Obama administration to fund the fight against the Zika virus.
He sent a letter to Obama on Wednesday, asking him to apply money set aside to battle Ebola in the state that was never used to fight Zika. Last month, the Senate appropriated $1.1 billion to battle the mosquito-borne virus, but the House left Washington for their Memorial Day break without passing a companion bill.
Scott said the president had not yet replied.