W. Pa. Guard likely to go as military police

The local Guard units haven't been activated since the Korean War.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania National Guard unit here is facing possible activation to Iraq, but a unit officer said that more soldiers from New Castle than Hermitage are likely to be making the trip.
Battery A of the 107th Field Artillery of the 1st Battalion has received verbal notice that it and sister batteries in Pittsburgh and Oil City may be put on active duty and sent to Iraq for a year.
However, they won't be going as artillery units but will be trained as military police officers, said Maj. William Meade, battalion training officer.
Artillery units normally have a complement of 90 soldiers, but MP companies require 124.
That means the headquarters unit in New Castle will have to make up the difference for the Hermitage, Oil City and Pittsburgh batteries and that could result in the activation of more guardsmen from New Castle than from any of the three batteries, said Meade, who goes by Ed.
What's expected
There's nothing definite yet, but a verbal notice from Maj. Gen. Wesley E. Craig Jr., commanding general of the Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Infantry Division, is a pretty good indication that a formal activation notice will follow, Meade said.
Written orders are expected around Thanksgiving, he said.
If activated, the units will likely be called to duty in late January, undergo two to three months of MP training at a mobilization station and then go to Iraq for a 12-month tour, Meade said, adding that the total activation period will run between 15 and 18 months.
"We don't know the exact missions we will be assigned," said Meade, a 20-year veteran of the National Guard.
Local units could be assigned to replace regular soldiers or could get assigned to a new area, he said.
Members of Hermitage's Battery A were notified of the verbal activation warning just before last weekend's training drill and they came to the session with a lot of questions, Meade said.
They are citizen soldiers who have a lot of issues such as jobs and family that they must deal with before they go, he said.
However, the attitude was "very positive," Meade said. "They were very receptive, very positive."
The local National Guard units were formed in the 1930s and haven't been activated since the Korean War, he said.
The units will be going to Fort Indiantown Gap just northeast of Harrisburg for a Dec. 13-14 drill and, if formal activation orders have been received, the battalion will probably start its "Soldier Readiness Processing" at that time to determine who will be qualified for active duty, Meade said.
The battalion's normal mobilization station is Fort Dix, N.J., but the guardsmen may go to another location because of the type of training required, he said.