3,000 Arkansas National Guardsmen Deploy to Iraq

As attacks against Americans in Iraq continue, an entire brigade of the Arkansas National Guard readies to leave for the danger zone. The 3,000 soldiers making up the 39th Infantry Brigade will start leaving this week. Three hundred area guardsmen attended a ceremony in Little Rock Sunday afternoon. The troops are leaving one battalion per day for training in Fort Hood, Texas. After several months of training in combat, stability, support and humanitarian aid, they`ll head to Iraq for 18 months. This is one of the largest deployment`s in the state`s history. "We haven`t had an infantry National Guard Brigade to deploy into a war zone since World War II. So, it`s quite an honor that he 39th Brigade would be the one selected for that mission," said, Brigadier General Ron Chastain, Brigade Commander. After the ceremony families attended several family support sessions to discuss finance, health care and legal help. Other ceremonies have or will take place across the state before the troops begin to leave on Tuesday.