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Philadelphia Inquirer
September 20, 2007 About half the troops will be deployed about a year earlier because of the war in Iraq.
By Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
FORT DIX, N.J. - About half of the state's 6,200 Army National Guard soldiers, who were originally scheduled to deploy overseas in 2010, will see their deployments moved up to as soon as late 2008, New Jersey's adjutant general said yesterday.
Maj. Gen. Glenn Rieth said the moveup is related to the war in Iraq and new Pentagon policies mandating that National Guard troops not be deployed for more than one year at a time.
"We are going to be in Iraq for a long time," Rieth said. "It's a long war. . . . We are going to see major deployments."
Rieth said he has no details about which units will be deployed, but it will likely involve soldiers from all over the state. He did not know exactly where the units would be going, but said it would most likely be in support of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, New Jersey has mobilized about 7,000 National Guard troops, either overseas or in the United States protecting locations such as nuclear reactors or military facilities.
The new Pentagon policies announced earlier this year are designed to limit the time that National Guard soldiers are deployed overseas. Troops may be mobilized for only 12 months, including training, which means they would be deployed in Iraq or other locations for about eight months, Rieth said.
The general said the forthcoming mobilizations would likely include troops who had been deployed before.
Rieth said while there has been talk of drawing down the number of troops in Iraq to levels before President Bush's "surge" sent an additional 30,000 troops to the war zone, plenty of troops would remain there.
September 20, 2007 About half the troops will be deployed about a year earlier because of the war in Iraq.
By Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
FORT DIX, N.J. - About half of the state's 6,200 Army National Guard soldiers, who were originally scheduled to deploy overseas in 2010, will see their deployments moved up to as soon as late 2008, New Jersey's adjutant general said yesterday.
Maj. Gen. Glenn Rieth said the moveup is related to the war in Iraq and new Pentagon policies mandating that National Guard troops not be deployed for more than one year at a time.
"We are going to be in Iraq for a long time," Rieth said. "It's a long war. . . . We are going to see major deployments."
Rieth said he has no details about which units will be deployed, but it will likely involve soldiers from all over the state. He did not know exactly where the units would be going, but said it would most likely be in support of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, New Jersey has mobilized about 7,000 National Guard troops, either overseas or in the United States protecting locations such as nuclear reactors or military facilities.
The new Pentagon policies announced earlier this year are designed to limit the time that National Guard soldiers are deployed overseas. Troops may be mobilized for only 12 months, including training, which means they would be deployed in Iraq or other locations for about eight months, Rieth said.
The general said the forthcoming mobilizations would likely include troops who had been deployed before.
Rieth said while there has been talk of drawing down the number of troops in Iraq to levels before President Bush's "surge" sent an additional 30,000 troops to the war zone, plenty of troops would remain there.