Governor Kim Reynolds has completed a five-day tour of some of the sites in the Middle East where about 1800 Iowa National Guard soldiers are deployed.
Reynolds and Iowa National Guard Adjutant General Stephen Osborn went to Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait. Reynolds presented the Purple Heart to an Iowa soldier who was wounded in the ambush in December that killed two Iowa soldiers. She also visited airmen deployed from a unit in Sioux City who provided medical care to Iowans after the attack. Reynolds praised their service last week during a speech to legislators.
“Airmen from the 185th Air Refueling Wing Medical Group, based out of Sioux City and also deployed in the Middle East, took charge of the soldiers’ treatment and evacuation. Lt. Col. Paul Niles shared that the wounded were reassured knowing that it was fellow Iowa Guardsmen caring for them, praying with them, and standing beside them,” Reynolds said during her 2026 “Condition of the State” address. “…Iowans taking care of Iowans, all in service of their country. Our State could not be prouder.”
The two Iowa soldiers who were critically wounded are receiving outpatient care. The two soldiers who were killed were laid to rest in Iowa in late December. “There’s no greater calling than service, especially when it asks for the greatest sacrifice,” Reynolds said January 13.
In a recent speech to state lawmakers, Major General Osborn said the deployed Iowa soldiers are contributing to stability in the Mideast. “They continue to carry out critical missions that are ongoing, demanding and vital to our national security,” he said January 15.
Osborn has said most of the 1800 Iowa National Guard soldiers who are currently deployed in the Middle East are part of a unit based in Boone.