The Vermont Army National Guard has received an order for a possible mobilization in early 2010.
Adjutant General Michael Dubie says members of the 86th Mountain Brigade could be called up to active duty. He says he notified them and their families through an e-mail.
Dubie says it’s likely the soldiers would be sent to Afghanistan, where the Guard has experience supporting the Afghan security forces.
Between 1,500 and 1,900 Vermont Guard members could be involved.
Dubie says the alert order the Guard received means soldiers should prepare for a possible mobilization.
(Dubie) “We’ll be doing three things primarily. One, continuing to train our soldiers to get them ready for a possible mobilization to the war zone. Second, we’ll be redoubling our efforts to take care of our families. And third, we’ll be planning on how are we going do the state mission if we have that many soldiers that leave the state of Vermont at the same time.”
The majority of the 86th Mountain Brigade’s members are from Vermont, but the unit also includes soldiers from other states.
According to Dubie, this would be the largest Vermont Army Guard mobilization since World War II.
Dubie said that with such a large deployment of Army National Guard members, it’s likely that the Air National Guard would be relied upon to take care of any state issues that come up, such as flooding or other emergencies.