It will be a security and support mission, according to Lt. Col, Matt Guerttman, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery, which has its headquarters in Fort Dodge.

The soldiers and their friends and families will not see each other for months after the troops leave in late May for the yearlong mission.

“Your efforts and support are paramount,” Command Sgt. Major Jim Sherrill told a Fort Dodge audience Tuesday morning.

“Our soldiers will need assurance that things are OK back home,” he added.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
A sign and a howitzer in the front yard mark the Fort Dodge Readiness Center as the home of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery. Soldiers from that unit are among Iowa Army National Guard soldiers who will deploy to the Middle East this summer as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.

He said the folks back home can raise morale by sending lots of mail and care packages. But it will take three weeks for a piece of mail to get to the Middle East.

Representatives of the National Guard, the Guard’s Warrior and Family Services Branch and Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve answered questions about the upcoming deployment during a townhall meeting Tuesday morning at the headquarters of the 194th Field Artillery. About 20 people attended.

The upcoming mission

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division, which includes soldiers from all Iowa Army National Guard units, is being called to active duty as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.

The entire brigade was last called up in 2010, when it deployed to Afghanistan.

The brigade includes the 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery. That unit consists of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery in Fort Dodge, Battery A in Estherville, Battery B at Camp Dodge and Forward Support Co. in Storm Lake.

The soldiers will depart Iowa on May 29. A departure ceremony will be held in Fort Dodge that day.

They will not go directly to the Middle East, however. Their first stop will be the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson in Louisiana.

According to Guerttman, the first week at Fort Johnson will be spent “staging” and generally getting ready. Then there will be a four-day live fire exercise, he said.

After that the Iowa soldiers will spend 10 days in mock combat in a training area nicknamed The Box.

Guerttman said the training time in The Box is “designed to challenge every soldier in every way.”

He noted that the brigade will be in The Box during a hot, humid Louisiana summer.

“It’s going to be a great time,” he said.

Following the completion of their training, the soldiers will move to the Middle East in July. Guerttman said their task will be a “rotational security and support mission.” He said many of the troops will be in the Al Anbar province in Iraq.

The soldiers will return to Iowa in June 2006.

Long separation from family

When the soldiers board the buses bound for Louisiana on May 29, that will be the last time they and their families will see each other for a year.

There will be no opportunity to visit the soldiers in Louisiana. And unlike during some previous National Guard deployments, the soldiers will not have leave time that they can use to come home, according to Guerttman.

Soldiers will not have access to their cell phones while they are training in The Box at Fort Johnson, he said. They will have access to their phones at other times in Louisiana.

Sherrill said cell phones with an international plan should work in the Middle East. However, there will be times when soldiers will not have access to their phones there due to military security requirements.

In their base camps, the soldiers will have access to computers for email.

Capt. Jacob Johnson, the field artillery battalion’s executive officer, will remain in the United States at the Fort Dodge Readiness Center. He will be a point of contact for families of deployed soldiers. He can be reached at 515-331-5560, ext. 18400.

Heather Geerdes, the Fort Dodge representative of the Warrior and Family Services Branch, will also be a point of contact for families. Other residents, businesses and groups that want to do something to support the deployed soldiers can also contact her. Geerdes can be reached at 515-252-4192.