Oregon Guard unit that went to Iraq told to get ready for Afghanistan
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Army has told an Oregon National Guard unit to start preparing for a deployment that could make the members among the last American troops in Afghanistan.
The deployment of 1,800 troops would be the Guard's second-largest overseas deployment since World War II, The Oregonian newspaper reported Tuesday.
Three years ago a Guard unit sent 2,800 troops to Iraq.
The Guard started notifying members of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team over the weekend to be prepared for a deployment tentatively scheduled to last 400 days. The deployment typically starts with a couple of months of training in the United States.
The 41st Brigade is headquartered at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas and has battalions based in Springfield, Portland, Forest Grove, Bend and Ashland.
President Barack Obama, running for re-election, plans to withdraw the remaining 68,000 U.S. troops by the end of 2014.
Guard spokesman Capt. Stephen Bomar likened the deployment to that of an Oregon unit sent to Iraq in 2010, immediately after the U.S. downgraded its role in Iraq from combat to noncombat operations.
In Afghanistan in 2014, Bomar said, Oregon soldiers "could be the last ones on the ground."
But he noted the plans could be canceled or the deployment scaled back or otherwise changed in the months leading up to 2014.
The notices delivered to the Oregon Guard are the first of three given to a unit scheduled to deploy.
The notification provides money for training. It may be followed by a mobilization "alert," typically given a year ahead of the deployment, and then by a mobilization order, which provides specific details.
The Guard described the deployment as a "security mission." When the brigade deployed to Iraq three years ago, its primary duties were to provide security at military bases and for supply convoys.
Afghanistan has seen a spate of deadly "green-on-blue" killings by Afghan troops who turn their weapons on Americans and their allies. Commanders in Afghanistan recently ordered a stop to some joint missions with Afghan troops.
Among the more than 50 coalition troops killed this year by their presumed Afghan allies was Army Spec. Mabry Anders of Baker City, who died last month.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
The first time I voted in a presidential election (1964), the Democrats said if I voted for the the Republican, Barry M.Goldwater, we would have half a million men in Vietnam within 6 months. Sure enough, within 6 months, Lyndon Baines Johnson, the Democratic president, sent half a million men to Vietnam.Â
Ready for another senseless war? Vote Republican. If Romney wins, it's guaranteed we will be at war (again) overseas within 18 months, and we'll still be in Afghanistan. Got kids close to draft age? Be prepared, obviously we'll need more soldiers. Read the story.
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Fire away, Obama haters, but you can't argue with this reality.