Iowa Troops Heading to Afghanistan

A squadron of 3,500 Iowa Army National Guard soldiers has received orders to report for duty in Afghanistan next year, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday. This effort is the largest mobilization for the Iowa National Guard since World War II. The troops will deploy in fall 2010 to support ongoing operations and training of the Afghan National Security Forces. In addition to the Iowa troops, two Army brigade combat teams—a total of 7,000 soldiers—have received Afghanistan assignments for next year. A group of MV-22 Osprey aircraft has also been designated for deployment along with the troops.