Le Mars troops may head to Afghanistan

(Photo contributed) Members of the C-Troop, First 113th Cavalry pose in desert gear in this photo from an Iraq tour of duty. Now 109 soldiers based in Le Mars are being called up to serve in Afghanistan in the fall of 2010. [Click to enlarge]

More than 100 Iowa National Guard soldiers based in Le Mars may be packing their bags for Afghanistan next fall in the largest single unit call-up of the guard since World War II.

Official word from the Department of Defense came Tuesday that about 3,500 Iowa National Guard soldiers are being alerted for potential mobilization to Afghanistan as part of a scheduled rotation of forces in fall 2010.

The alert included 80 soldiers of the C-Troop, First 113th Cavalry and 29 from Detatchment 1 Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, First 113th Cavalry in Le Mars, which fall under the umbrella of Iowa's Second Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 34th Infantry Division.

Those 109 soldiers were alerted last weekend.

These soldiers will be mobilized for up to 12 months, spending most of that time in Afghanistan, supporting ongoing operations and training of the Afghan National Security Forces, the National Guard announcement stated.

"Though we have alerted the entire 2/34th BCT, at this time, we anticipate that some brigade elements may not mobilize due to recent deployments," said Brig. Gen. Tim Orr, the Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard.

More than 30 Iowa communities including Sioux City, Storm Lake, Sheldon and Spencer will be impacted if all alerted units are called up in this mobilization.

The mobilization also will include the First Brigade Combat Team, 101 Airborne Division, Campbell, Ky. and the Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany.

For members of C-Troop, First 113th Cavalry, this deployment will be their second or third, according to Staff Sergeant David Pinney.

In the past decade, the Le Mars-based unit was called upon to serve in Kosovo and then, in 2005, in Iraq, Pinney said.

The alert came this week to give soldiers, their families and their employers more time to prepare, the Iowa National Guard news release stated.

Training is ongoing from now until the time of mobilization.

"We have a lot of training requirements before we mobilize," Pinney said of the announcement, which comes one year in advance. "It gives family time to anticipate the mobilization."