A group of Iowa National Guard troops have been mobilized for federal active duty. The Guard’s Colonel Robert King says members of the 3657th maintenance company headquartered at Camp Dodge and they’ll come on active duty about January 27th providing security at the Sioux City and Des Moines Air National Guard bases. King says the reason for the mobilization is the Air Guard’s security-force squadrons have already been on duty for a year, and recently had that extended, providing security at worldwide locations. In the meantime, members of the air bases at Des Moines and Sioux City handled security, and now the Army and Air Force have decided to let them go back to their regular on-duty jobs like avionics and engine repair, and call up some of the guards to take over the security. The 65 soldiers coming on duty late in January will be part of 9000 nationwide providing security at air force and Air National Guard bases across the U.S. Most of the soldiers in the 3657th are from the Des Moines area, so those who serve in Sioux City will be stationed there but those on duty at the Des Moines Air Guard base can probably commute from their homes to the active-duty assignment. The last time the 3657th was called to active duty was 1951, during the Korean War.
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