Ranks of Utah soldiers are surging
Many Guardsmen, Reservists being called to active duty
Altogether, 1,658 Utahns are listed on active duty in a Defense Department report issued this week. That's a 311-person jump in active Reservists and Guardsmen from the week before.
And by the end of the month, the total number of Utah Reservists and Guardsmen is expected to increase by approximately 40 percent when a National Guard group from southern Utah is expected to be mobilized.
"We're in the process of sending quite a few people out," said Lt. Col. Dave Thomas, spokesman for the Utah National Guard.
"Almost all of them are part of the Operation Iraqi Freedom."
Nationally, the number of National Guardsmen and Reservists will soon represent a full 50 percent of the combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Army Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum in a Defense Department release. About 120,000 citizen-soldiers and airmen are currently deployed across the globe.
Another 450 Utahns from the 222nd Field Artillery Battalion are scheduled for mobilization at the end of the month. The group, Thomas said, will depart for Camp Shelby, Miss., for four months of training, then to Fort Irwin, Calif., for another month before reaching its end destination — the Middle East.
The group — based out of Richfield, Beaver, Cedar City and St. George — was originally deployed in March 2003 for security duties in Iraq. But plans changed, and the unit was sent to Fort Lewis, Wash., to teach Reserve Officer Training Corps students.
A group of Utah Army Reservists was being mobilized Friday. Some 50 members of the 328th Combat Support Hospital are traveling to Fort Carson, Colo., for training. Next stop for the soldiers is Landstuhl (Germany) Regional Medical Center, the Army's primary medical facility for soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Reservists will be deployed for at least 365 days and up to 545 days, according to the 96th Regional Readiness Command at Fort Douglas.
When war began on March 19, 2003, the total number of Guardsmen and Reservists on active duty was close to 4,000. It crossed that level in April 2004 as the battles waged on. In October 2003, with Iraq occupied by U.S. troops, mobilization numbers for Utah dipped below 3,000.
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com
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