By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery AL – Another group of Alabama National Guard personnel are headed to Iraq. Members of the 1st Battalion of the 131st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment were alerted late last year that they would be mobilized to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. About 15 soldiers were greeted by Governor Bob Riley at a departure ceremony Sunday in Montgomery. On Wednesday, the soldiers will head to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for two months of training. Then they will go to U-S Central Command Headquarters in Tampa, Florida, before deploying to the Persian Gulf region. This is the unit's third deployment in the past 11 years. The 131st already has served in Hungary, Bosnia and Kosovo. The current mobilization is a for a period of up to 15 months.