Governor Vilsack says he’s been told Iowa troops will NOT be part of thefirst activation of the national guard authorized today by President Clintonfor duty in Kosovo. Vilsack participated in a briefing with Defense Secretary William Cohen andgovernors of 14 other states and says the innitial call up will involvetwo-thousand of the authorized 33-thousand troops for help in refuelingairplanes. Vilsack says Iowans will not be involved in that action, butmay be ask to assist in future requests for fighter plane support. Vilsacksays Iowa Air National Guard members from Des Moines will still fulfilltheir committment this summer to fly patrols over Iraq’s northern no-flyzone. Iowa also has an Air Guard unit featuring fighter jets based in SiouxCity.
