Local National Guard companies may be deployed

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ST. PAUL - Soldiers in the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division - which includes companies in Pipestone, Luverne and Jackson - were alerted Thursday to prepare for a possible one-year deployment to Iraq and Kuwait that would begin in summer 2011.

The U.S. Department of Defense has not yet identified which units will be called up for Operation New Dawn, the U.S. drawdown phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, so all all the soldiers in the 1st Brigade were informed.

"Once we receive a formal mobilization order, we will be able to identify the specific soldiers that will go," said Major Paul Rickert, Public Affairs Officer for the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division.

The formal order will likely come some time in early 2011, Rickert added.

The Dept. of Defense is currently asking for 2,700 soldiers, but both that number and the specific mission could change. According to a press release from the office of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, that would be the largest deployment of Minnesota National Guard Soldier since World War II.

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