800 state troops headed to Iraq

The Guard members, from a unit based in St. Paul, will go overseas after three months of training in Oklahoma.

By MARK BRUNSWICK, Star Tribune

Last update: March 18, 2008 - 10:37 PM

At a time when U.S. troop levels are being drawn down in Iraq, Minnesota Guard troop numbers will be expanding.

About 800 members of the Guard's St. Paul-based 34th Aviation Combat Brigade will be deployed to Iraq during the summer after three months of training at Fort Sill, Okla.

The unit, which will go to Oklahoma in May, is expected to be in Iraq for a year.

As members of an aviation combat brigade, the Minnesota solders will maintain and fly Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters as well as provide administrative, personnel and other support for other Army aviation units.

The brigade mission will be coordinating combat-service support missions, such as transporting cargo, personnel and material throughout their area of responsibility.

The unit has not previously been deployed to Iraq, although a component of the group, the 2-147th Assault Helicopter Battalion, is currently there and is scheduled to return this summer. While the brigade has not previously been in Iraq, some individual members may have served in previous deployments.

About 2,500 members of the Minnesota Guard, part of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division, returned last summer from an extended 22-month deployment, the longest-serving unit in Iraq. There are about 500 Minnesota Guard members currently deployed in Iraq, part of the 1,300 members of the Minnesota Guard who now are deployed worldwide.

The United States has about 158,000 troops in Iraq.

Minnesota Guard leaders had planned an official announcement in two weeks, but soldiers scheduled to be deployed have already been notified and have been instructed to get their affairs in order, said Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, a Guard spokesman.

"They are dealing with their leases, they are telling their colleges; wives and family members are preparing," Olson said.

News of the aviation unit's deployment leaked out on Tuesday at a Boy Scout breakfast in St. Cloud, where Col. David Elicerio, deputy commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division, was speaking. Elicerio's remarks were reported by the St. Cloud Times.

Mark Brunswick • 651-222-1636