Posted on 05/09/2004 4:52:48 PM PDT by 68skylark
BOISE, Idaho -- Members of the Idaho Army National Guard's 116th Calvary Brigade are being mobilized to take part in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Maj. Gen. Jack Kane announced Saturday.
The mobilization order affects about 750 Idaho guard members in support, administration and intelligence. The brigade has been on alert since Feb. 29. It has about 3,500 citizen soldiers from five states. About 2,600 are in Idaho.
The brigade's chief mission is providing tanks, heavy artillery and personnel.
"The initial call-up of Idahoans is taking place to prepare the rest of the 116th Cavalry Brigade for mobilization," said Kane, Idaho's adjutant general. "This first wave of soldiers is needed to ensure leadership, logistical and information needs are met when the rest of the brigade's members are mobilized."
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said it's been known since the end of February that the call was likely to come.
"All Idahoans should recognize not only the dedication and sacrifices being made by our citizen soldiers, but also the contributions being made by the soldiers' families, employers, and others in their communities," he said.
"The state is doing all it can to help Guard families during the deployment, and I call upon all citizens to support our fellow Idahoans in this mobilization. We all have our duty to support one another."
The Department of Defense has not announced when the rest of the brigade will be mobilized, although the Idaho National Guard expects that will likely happen soon.
The Idaho soldiers will not leave the state for several weeks. They then will start training at Ft. Bliss, Texas, by June 10. The next step is mission readiness training at either the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., or the Joint Readiness Training Center at Ft. Polk, La., before deploying overseas.
The brigade would likely be abroad by this fall and be in the Middle East for one year. The entire mobilization is expected to last 18 months. Guardsmen in the brigade come from Boise to Blackfoot, Moscow to Pocatello.
These National Guard enhanced separate brigades have a lot of combat power -- I'm sure these soldiers will make their mark whereever they're assigned.
Press reports seem to say that the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment from Tennessee will be the next brigade-sized unit to be mobilized -- if they haven't been already.
Kerry and McAuliffe should apologize for comparing Guardsmen to draft dodgers & deserters, and for calling them "not real military." But what are the odds of that?
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