June 12, 2020 – West Bend, WI – Approximately 35 Soldiers from the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s G Company, 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation will deploy to the Middle East this summer.
Based in West Bend, the unit will mobilize in support of Operations Spartan Shield and Inherent Resolve.
The Wisconsin National Guard continues to maintain a high operations tempo with hundreds of Citizen Soldiers and Airmen deployed overseas including approximately 200 Red Arrow Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry currently serving in Afghanistan and approximately 160 Red Arrow Soldiers from the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team headquarters who deployed to Ukraine in fall 2019 where they are overseeing a group of multinational “partner and advise training teams” – or PATTs – based at the International Peacekeeping Security Center in western Ukraine. Approximately 150 Soldiers from the 829th Engineer Company and another 20 Soldiers from the 924th Engineer Facilities Detachment remain deployed to the Middle East. The 1967th Contracting Team also deployed to the Horn of Africa in the winter.
Approximately 200 troops from the 128th Infantry have returned from Afghanistan over the past two months.
The deployments in support of the National Guard’s federal mission overseas come amidst a series of unprecedented Wisconsin National Guard mobilizations here in Wisconsin.
More than 1,200 Citizen Soldiers and Airmen continue to support the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 1,500 troops also mobilized in late May in response to requests for assistance from Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine to help preserve public safety and ensure individuals had the ability to peacefully demonstrate. More than 2,400 troops also mobilized in April to serve as poll workers during the state’s spring election after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a critical shortage of poll workers across the state.