RELEASED BY: LT. COL. GREG HAPGOOD

     PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER
     OFFICE: (515) 252-4582
     CELL: (515) 971-6385
     HOME: (515) 986-5725

RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

COMMUNITY SENDOFF CEREMONY PLANNED FOR SELECTED IOWA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS
 

A community sendoff ceremony for approximately 35 Iowa Army National Guard Soldiers mobilized as part of the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, will be held Thursday, June 14, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Iowa National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters (formerly known as the STARC Armory), 6100 NW 78th Avenue, Johnston, Iowa.
 

Local officials and Iowa National Guard leadership will participate and the public and media are welcome and encouraged to attend the ceremony. This alert is part of Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism.
 

Approximately 230 Soldiers have been alerted from the 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery, and another approximately 100 Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, for this mission. The new DoD mobilization policy goal is to mobilize National Guard and Reserve servicemembers for no longer than 12 consecutive months, but if necessary, those servicemembers can serve up to 24 months consecutively on active duty.
 

The 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery is comprised of units located in Fort Dodge (Headquarters and Headquarters Battery), Estherville (Battery A), Algona (Battery B), and Storm Lake (Company G, 334th Brigade Support Battalion). Their core mission is to provide direct and indirect artillery fires, and coordinate artillery and mortar fires, and close air support for combat units in a theater of operations. This unit previously mobilized in support of Operation Noble Eagle in 2002-03.
 

Company A, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry is based in Dubuque. Their mission is to conduct close combat with enemy forces and provide security of key terrain, facilities, and installations. This unit last deployed in 2003-04 for the Multinational Force and Observers (“MFO”) peacekeeping mission in the Sinai peninsula, Egypt.
 

For questions concerning this release as well as additional information about the operations, training, and activities of the Iowa Army and Air National Guard, please contact Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, Iowa National Guard Public Affairs Officer by email at gregory.hapgood@ia.ngb.army.mil or (515) 252-4582 (office), (515) 971-6385 (cell), or (515) 986-5725 (home. You may also contact Master Sgt. Duff E. McFadden at (515) 252-4666 (office), (515) 480-7647 (cell), (515) 251-7335 (home) or by email at duff.mcfadden@ia.ngb.army.mil.

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