OU To Host Deployment Of National Guard Soldiers

Thursday, October 4th 2007, 11:06 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ About 10,000 people are expected at the Lloyd Noble Center to help send off Oklahoma National Guard troops for their largest deployment since the Korean War. The October 18 ceremony will honor about 2,400 soldiers of the 45th Infantry Brigade who will be headed to Fort Bliss, Texas, on their way to Iraq.

Send-off ceremonies are typically held in high school gymnasiums or similar venues, but previous National Guard deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan numbered no more than a few hundred soldiers.

This deployment called for a larger send-off and an arena to match, said Col. Pat Scully, a spokesperson for the National Guard.

``You start thinking about 2,400 soldiers plus their families and friends, and all of a sudden you are looking at 10,000 people,'' Scully said. ``President David Boren and OU stepped up to the plate and they are hosting us. We're very thankful.''

In an e-mailed statement, Boren expressed his gratitude toward the deploying soldiers.

``It's a great privilege for the University of Oklahoma to host our service men and women and their families,'' Boren said. ``It is impossible to put into words the profound appreciation which all Oklahomans feel for those who are making great personal sacrifices to serve and protect all of us.''

The soldiers will be mobilized the day after the ceremony and will begin the trip to Fort Bliss one unit at a time beginning October 22.

Training for the Iraq deployment began this summer, with a month long training camp at Camp Gruber, near Braggs, and Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. Soldiers qualified with their weapons, became familiar with their equipment and got basic instruction in urban warfare and combat medical training.

``At Fort Bliss, they will begin 60 to 90 days of what we are calling 'mission specific training,''' Scully said.

The National Guardsmen will head to Iraq after January 1. The yearlong deployment includes the training time at Fort Bliss, so the soldiers should be home by October 2008, Scully said.