Pa. Guard unit headed to Iraq

HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Battery A of the 107th Field Artillery of the 1st Battalion of the Pennsylvania National Guard is going to Iraq.
The unit, and sister batteries in Oil City and Pittsburgh, are being activated as of Friday and are due in Fort Dix, N.J., their mobilization station, on Dec. 29, said Maj. Grey Berrier, the battalion's executive officer.
The three batteries had been notified of possible activation in November and the official orders have now arrived, Berrier said.
They won't be going to Iraq as an artillery unit, however.
They are being reassigned as military police officers who will be assigned to man checkpoints, do vehicle searches and run limited patrol and search operations, Berrier said.
They'll get additional training as MPs at Fort Dix, he added.
Artillery units normally have a complement of 90 soldiers, but MP companies require 124.
That means the battalion headquarters unit in New Castle will have to make up the additional personnel needed for deployment in Iraq, Berrier said.
The local National Guard units were formed in the 1930s but haven't been activated since the Korean War.
The activation period will run between 15 and 18 months with 12 of those months spent in Iraq.