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Big Illinois Guard contingent preparing for Afghan deployment

Posted February 19, 2008 10:00 pm

John Reynolds

The Illinois Army National Guard is gearing up for its largest mobilization since World War II.

About 2,700 Guard members of the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which is made up of units from across the state, expect to be called up this summer for a tour in Afghanistan.

The brigade will help train Afghan national police and the Afghan army. The deployment is expected to last up to 12 months, with most of the time spent in Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Tim Franklin, a spokesman for the Illinois Army National Guard and one of the soldiers deploying with the 33rd, said such training assignments are nothing new.

"It's been a mission of the National Guard for decades now," Franklin said. "We have been sending Guard units down to places like South America and Central America doing training and mentoring under the umbrella of nation-building-type missions."

Unlike previous deployments, in which individual units were attached to other Army units when they arrived overseas, the members of the 33rd will work together as a task force.

"Obviously, when you are attached to a unit once you arrive in theater, you don't have a prior relationship with that unit. All of these battalions and companies already fall under the 33rd Brigade Combat Team," Franklin said.

The Illinois Guard personnel will be joined by other U.S. and coalition soldiers to make up Task Force Phoenix VIII.

"We will pretty much be the headquarters element for all of the attached coalition and other U.S. forces that are part of Task Force Phoenix," Franklin said.

The VIII designation means the Illinois soldiers will be among the eighth rotation of U.S. and coalition forces sent to Afghanistan to train its army and police force.

Some of the jobs the Illinois Guard members will undertake in Afghanistan include leadership training and instruction on basic tactics, techniques and procedures.

While Guard personnel assigned to the headquarters will most likely work out of a building, other Illinois units will find themselves out in the field.

"Some of our embedded training teams are going to be out in the field with the Afghan army," Franklin said. "It's going to be tents and field conditions for them."

Another part of the mission will be to help build a sense of national identity among the Afghans. To that end, the task force will help in the establishment of basic services so people associate quality-of-life improvements with the government.

Some of the Illinois units are engineering units, and their duties in Afghanistan could include civil projects, Franklin added.

Franklin's deployment with the 33rd will be his first to Afghanistan. He deployed to Bosnia in 1997-98.

"It's exciting in a lot of respects, but it's never easy to leave your normal lifestyle, family and friends," he said.

Guard officials expect the 33rd to receive federal mobilization orders this summer. A training exercise called Exportable Combat Training Capability is scheduled in June.

There are about 10,000 soldiers in the Illinois Army National Guard, of which about 600 are currently mobilized.

Even with the deployment of the 33rd, officials said, there will still be enough soldiers in the state to handle natural disasters or homeland security emergencies. About 1,500 Guard members with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team will remain in Illinois.

John Reynolds can be reached at (217) 788-1524.

Illinois Army National Guard units deploying to Afghanistan for Task Force Phoenix include:

Headquarters 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Urbana

Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 33rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Machesney Park

Company A, Engineers, 33rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Marseilles

Company B, Military Intelligence, 33rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Bloomington

Company C, Signal, 33rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Carbondale

Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, Sullivan

Company A, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, Mattoon

Company B, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, Champaign

Company C, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, Springfield

Company E, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, Joliet

Company G, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, Robbins

Headquarters, Headquarters Troop, 2-106th Cavalry, Kewanee

Troop A, 2-106th Calvary, Pontiac

Troop B, 2-106th Calvary, Dixon

Troop C, 2-106th Calvary, Aurora

Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 2-130th Infantry, Marion

Company A, 2-130th Infantry, West Frankfort

Company B, 2-130th Infantry, Effingham

Company C, 2-130th Infantry, Litchfield

Company D, 2-130th Infantry, Salem

Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 2-122nd Support Battery field Artillery, Chicago

Battery A, 2-122nd Field Artillery, Sycamore

Battery B, 2-122nd Field Artillery, Robbins

Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 1-178th Infantry, Chicago

Company B, 178th Infantry, Elgin

Company C, 178th Infantry, Kankakee

Company D, 178th Infantry, Woodstock

333rd Military Police Company, Freeport

On the Web

For more information on the Task Force Phoenix mission, go to www.taskforcephoenix.com.

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