New England guardsmen set to deploy

Soldiers of the Vermont National Guard march under a display of flags following a deployment ceremony in Burlington, Vt., on Dec. 6. More than 300 members of the Vermont Guard are headed off for training in Indiana before their deployment to Afghanistan.


New England guardsmen set to deploy
By David Sharp - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Dec 6, 2009 14:04:31 EST

PORTLAND, Maine — New England is in the midst of a major call-up of citizen soldiers that’ll eventually lead to the deployment of roughly half of the National Guard personnel from Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire over the course of the coming year.

Hundreds of soldiers are mobilizing as part of the Vermont-based 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which will go to Afghanistan early in the new year.

The unit’s latest send-off is Monday for 150 soldiers from the Maine National Guard’s Bravo Company, 3-172nd Mountain Infantry Battalion, which is based in Brewer. Another 350 soldiers from Vermont National Guard said goodbye to their families and departed on Sunday.

The Vermont National Guard deployment was in the works long before President Barack Obama’s announcement last week that he was sending 30,000 U.S. reinforcements to Afghanistan to help turn the tide against the Taliban and train Afghan security forces to defend against the militants.

Capt. Paul Bosse, Bravo Company’s commander, said his soldiers understand that things could come to a head with buildup of troops in Afghanistan in the new year.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_new_england_guard_deployment_120609/