HUTCHINSON -- A send-off for area Minnesota National Guard soldiers who have been mobilized for duty in Iraq will take place Sunday in Hutchinson.
Members of Echo Company, 1-194 Combined Arms Battalion based in Hutchinson will be leaving sometime next week for training at Camp Shelby, Miss., Sgt. 1st Class Ronald Huff said.
After six months, they will go to Iraq for about a year, he said.
The company has 80 to 90 soldiers, 30 to 35 of whom are from the Willmar and Litchfield areas, Huff said.
They will be part of the largest overseas deployment of Minnesota National Guard soldiers since World War II. The governor and the Minnesota National Guard announced in August that about 2,600 Minnesota National Guard soldiers from the 34th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team would be mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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Units of the 1st Brigade train in 33 Minnesota cities, including Hutchinson.
Echo Company, 1-194 Combined Arms Battalion used to be called Bravo Company, 682nd Engineer Battalion. The name was changed Sept. 4 after a reorganization, Huff said.
In March, 28 soldiers from Alpha Company, 682nd Engineer Battalion based in Litchfield returned from a year-long deployment in Iraq. Its name has not changed, Huff said.
The Montevideo-based 151st Field Artillery has been in Iraq for almost a year. Four soldiers from its Alpha Company were injured earlier this month in Iraq.
The send-off will start at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the McLeod County Fairgrounds in Hutchinson. Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer is scheduled to speak.
The event is open to the public.
