By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – Another group of Alabama's citizen-soldiers soon will deploy to Iraq. The Alabama National Guard announced on Thursday the mobilization of six units with a combined strength of 640 troops.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Bob Horton, a Guard spokesman, the Pentagon called the following units to active duty:
- 75 troops assigned to the 1103rd Combat Sustainment Battalion in Eufaula
- 160 troops assigned to Company C, 167th Infantry Regiment in Cullman
- 170 troops assigned to the 1203rd Engineer Battalion in Dothan
- 170 troops assigned to 1st Battalion, 131st Armor in Ozark
- 35 troops assigned to the 1146th Personnel Service Battalion in Montgomery
- 30 troops assigned to the 621st Troop Command in Union Springs
Horton said all the units will spend 365 days on active duty.
A deployment ceremony will be held in Eufaula on Monday at 11-30 a-m for the 1103rd Combat Sustainment Battalion. Two more Alabama units - Company C, 167th Infantry Regiment and the 1203rd Engineer Battalion - will mobilize in June.
Three other units will deploy in July. All the unit's soldiers will undergo additional training at various military installations around the U-S and some are being called to active duty for the second time in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Alabama already has seven Army Guard units with 11-hundred troops deployed overseas supporting the Iraq war.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)