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1,500 Vt. guardsmen headed to Afghanistan

COLCHESTER, Vt. — The Vermont Army National Guard will send about 1,500 members to Afghanistan next winter in what will be the state’s largest National Guard call-up since World War II.

Vermont Adjutant Gen. Michael Dubie outlined the deployment order on Thursday, ending months of planning for the mission without having a final order.

The Vermont unit and members from other states will oversee Task Force Phoenix, a 10,000-soldier force that will be commanded by Vermont National Guard Col. Will Roy. The primary mission is to train Afghan security forces so they can defeat terrorism and provide a secure, stable environment, Dubie said.

“They’ll be making a troubled place in the world better,” Dubie said.

The soldiers will leave Vermont in December and January for training. They are expected to arrive in Afghanistan in February and March, where they will spend nine months training the Afghan military police and army.

About half the soldiers have already deployed outside the United States.

About 1,500 other soldiers from Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire and North Carolina, as well as other U.S. forces and soldiers from 17 other nation, will be part of the mission.

To prepare the Vermont families for the deployment, Guard officials held 18 town-hall style meetings around Vermont to discuss the details.

“We want our people, our families, to know what the mission is,” Dubie said.

The Guard has received an unprecedented amount of resources such as new equipment and advanced training, and been able to expand its family support network and emergency assistance programs, Dubie said.

“It’s going to be a tough year,” he said. “We’ve got to take care of not only the people going but we’ve got to take care of the families,” he said.

After the deployment, Vermont will have about 1,200 Army National Guard members and 1,000 Air Guard members to respond to domestic emergencies.