The Iowa National Guard is inviting the public to a sendoff ceremony for a group of citizen soldiers preparing to go overseas. Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hapgood is the guard’s spokesman. He says approximately 80 soldiers from the 10-34th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will be sent off from Camp Dodge on Sunday as they prepare to deploy to Iraq.
Hapgood says the soldiers come from all over Iowa, but are headquartered at Camp Dodge. Hapgood says the unit is a headquarters, logistics unit that takes care of things such as getting supplies, water, fuel and other things to the troops. Hapgood says the unit will be on a standard deployment. He says they’re “on orders” for 18 months, and will train somewhere before heading to Iraq and then will be on active duty for 14 or 15 months.
Hapgood says there are just over 11-hundred Iowa Guard soldiers on active duty somewhere in the world. He says most of the soldiers are in Iraq or Afghanistan. The public sendoff ceremony is set for noon on Sunday at the Join Forces Headquarters of the Iowa National Guard.