Some Iowa Marine reservists are being sent back to Iraq. The Marines are members of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, based in Des Moines. Marine spokesperson Major Phil Farr says their exact mission has not been announced, but Company E is a rifle company, so the reservists will be trained for combat.
Farr says the reservists will spend three months training in California before serving up to eight months in Iraq. The Marines reside in cities across Iowa and the Midwest. Farr says the reservists are from Iowa, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. "They’re college students, business owners, executives," Farr says, "they come from all walks of life."
Farr estimates that around 40-percent of the company’s current Marines served during a previous deployment to Iraq in 2004.