Vermont Guard’s Mobilization Alert Extended Three More Months

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(Host) The Vermont National Guard says members of the 86th Brigade, who’ve been on alert for nearly three months, will have to wait up to 90 days more to find out if they will be deployed overseas.

Initially, 1,300 Vermont Guard members were told they would receive their orders by early September. Now they may have to wait until December to find out who among them will be deployed. While not all will be shipping out, the deployment is expected to be the largest in the history of the Vermont Guard.

Lieutenant Veronica Saffo is a spokeswoman for the Vermont National Guard. Saffo says the extra time will give Guard members longer to get their affairs in order. But she also understands the wait is difficult for their families, who want to know who will be deployed:

(Saffo) “I’m actually married to one of the soldiers that is affected by this alert. So I see it on both sides of the coin. I appreciate, as a wife, that you want to know where is my husband going to be in six months, nine months, a year from now. On the other side of the coin I understand that here, working at the headquarters and getting the information as it comes in, we’re equally frustrated that we don’t have the information to give to the families.”

(Host) Saffo says the extension does not mean it’s less likely that members of the Vermont Guard will be deployed. She says Guard units from other states are also being told they will have to wait longer to be called up.

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