(Spencer)– Nearly six-hundred members of the Iowa National Guard have been called to active duty.
National Guard spokesman Colonel Greg Hapgood says the call-up includes two units based in northern Iowa–the first battalion 133rd Infantry has about 560 soldiers being activated, with an additional 40 coming from the First Battalion 194th Field Artillery.
Hapgood says the soldiers will serve as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He says the soldiers will train in the U-S for a certain period of time before being deployed to the Persian Gulf theatre. He says the soldiers will be on active duty for 18 months.
The 133rd Infantry is based in Waterloo; the 194th Field Artillery has units in Storm Lake, Spencer, Algona and Estherville.
(Story from Danielle Hitchings of sister station KDWD Hot 100 in Spencer.).
