WSFA 12 News Montgomery, AL |More Alabama Guard going to Afghanistan
Member Center:
Associated Press - October 28, 2009 5:04 AM ET
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - More Alabama Army National Guard members are headed to Afghanistan.
A Guard spokesman says about 260 members of the 135th Expeditionary Sustainment Command are scheduled to leave Birmingham this weekend. A departure ceremony is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at John Carroll High School. The unit will report to Fort Hood, Texas, for training before going to Afghanistan in early December.
The unit's commander, Reynold Hoover, will be pinned with the new rank of brigadier general on Friday. A spokesman says Hoover will be the first general office of the Alabama National Guard to deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq as part of the war on terror.
The departures mean nearly 15,000 Alabama Army and Air National Guard members have been activated and deployed since Sept. 11, 2001.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
