As many as 2,000 Minnesota National Guard troops are expected to receive mobilization notices within the next month to be deployed to Iraq. If those numbers turn out as expected, it will be the largest single deployment of Minnesota Guard troops since World War II.
About 2,700 members from the Minneapolis-based 1st Brigade Combat Team have been put on alert, meaning they are awaiting orders about the possible deployment, and Guard officials say they expect word about exact numbers shortly. Some units from southwestern Minnesota also have been put on alert....
At a National Governor's Association meeting in Des Moines last month a number of governors were critical of the burden of repeated deployments, saying the absence of Guard troops leaves their states unprotected against such things as natural disasters. Officials in both Idaho and Montana have talked about being unprepared for forest fires should they hit their states this summer....
In May, Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota, held a series of forums on the growing concern not only about what the troops are experiencing while overseas but also about what they may be facing when they come back.
http://startribune.com/stories/462/5552076.html
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