A sendoff ceremony is scheduled in eastern Iowa tonight for a National Guard unit that’s bound for Egypt. About 95 soldiers with the Guard’s 109th Medical Battalion are being deployed for at least one year to the Sinai Peninsula, along the border with Israel, as part of a multinational peacekeeping effort.
Before heading overseas, the Iowa City based unit will receive additional training at Fort Lewis, Washington. Specialist Ashley Brake was married about one year ago. Her husband is serving in Iraq and now she’s heading to Egypt. "We knew this was going to happen with the deployments, it’s part of the job. It comes with the territory. It’s our country and that’s what we’re here to do," Brake said.
For some soldiers in the unit, it’ll be their second trip overseas – the 109th was deployed to Iraq in 2003. Tonight’s sendoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Iowa City Regina High School.