Guard Units To Be Deployed

PENTAGON (AP) -- The Pentagon is set to alert eight National Guard units to be ready for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan starting late next summer.<br/><br/>Defense officials tell The Associated Press

Wednesday, October 17th 2007, 8:58 pm

By: News On 6

PENTAGON (AP) -- The Pentagon is set to alert eight National Guard units to be ready for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan starting late next summer.

Defense officials tell The Associated Press that seven of the units will deploy to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. An announcement is not expected until later this week.

The military is reaching out to more Guard units to ease strain on active-duty Army personnel and provide security for ports, convoys and installations. U.S. officials are also trying to maintain necessary troop levels.

Specific brigades were not identified, but the officials say they will include units from North Carolina, Oklahoma, Illinois and Hawaii.

All together, the Guard announcement would involve about 20,000 soldiers.