Sand Springs National Guard soldier gets ready for deployment

More than 400 members of Oklahoma's 45th Infantry are getting ready to leave for Afghanistan. Among them is Tim Wilkens. The Sand Springs resident has been in the National Guard for 14 years, but

Wednesday, September 17th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

More than 400 members of Oklahoma's 45th Infantry are getting ready to leave for Afghanistan. Among them is Tim Wilkens. The Sand Springs resident has been in the National Guard for 14 years, but this is his first deployment.

Wilkens and other soldiers will be gone for at least nine months and possibly up to a year and a half. "It's pretty hard to get in the mindset that you're going on a deployment like this. Knowing that you're going to be leaving the family."

The soldiers in the 45th Infantry will be deployed until Afghanistan picks its new government. The Oklahoma soldiers will be part of a force that will train soldiers in Afghanistan's new national army.