Military call-up is biggest since WWII Austintown group is among Ohio units

The brigade includes members from an Austintown-based unit.

STAFF/WIRE REPORTS

COLUMBUS — The U.S. military is giving the Ohio National Guard its biggest call-up since World War II this week, sending about 1,600 troops to Kuwait, with some of them going on to Iraq.

With their departure, the guard is doing more to help members’ families.

The 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is spread throughout Ohio and includes another 1,100 soldiers from Michigan. One of the Ohio units is from Austintown.

Members of the unit have been deployed in individual companies or battalions since the terrorist attacks of 2001, but so many haven’t left together as part of the same unit in more than 60 years, Guard spokeswoman Maj. Nicole Gabriel said.

About 300 other Ohio Guard members currently are deployed, Gabriel said. The Ohio Guard, including the Army and Air branches, has a total strength of more than 15,000.

The unit will be based in Kuwait and will have some responsibility for security and convoy escorts in southern Iraq, said Col. Richard Curry, brigade commander.

The old 37th Division fought in the Pacific during World War II and had 9,800 Purple Heart and seven Medal of Honor recipients. The division was retired in 1968.

The 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was created this year as part of the military’s reorganization into smaller and more easily deployable brigades.

The Ohio Guard will bring new support programs and strengthen others for the families at home. The Guard has moved from a strictly reserve force to more of an active-duty one, and the families will have the same support they would find on an active-duty base, said Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt, Ohio’s adjutant general.

Since the Iraq war began in 2003, the Ohio Guard has been learning how to provide that support, Wayt said.

“Because the 37th draws from such a wide geographic area, the Guard has to work harder to make sure the families are in touch with each other and the services they need,” Wayt said.

The 37th includes infantry, artillery and support units that specialize in engineering, maintenance and health care. In peace time or in state emergencies, the Michigan-based soldiers report to that state’s governor and adjutant general but when deployed, they report to the Columbus-based 37th.

When the Guard’s primary mission was training and state emergencies, family support wasn’t such a priority because the Guard members were living at home, but that’s changed, Wayt said. Men and women won’t want to enlist if it causes family problems, he said.

“If we don’t take care of all of our families, we’re not going to be able to sustain our force,” he said. “Even if someone leaves the Guard, we want them to say, ’When I was in the military, they took care of me and my family.”’

As a result, the Guard is beginning or strengthening:

UA youth mobilization camp that allows military children to meet other children in their same situation.

UIntensive pre-mobilization briefings to help families with medical, legal and financial concerns.

UMonthly family-readiness group meetings during which unit commanders call in from overseas to answer questions.

UA Web site that helps families and soldiers keep track of one another’s schedules, post podcasts and create photo albums.

The guard didn’t do as good a job preparing families as it should have, said Lt. Col. Robert Bramlish, the state family-program director.

“We do get better at this,” he said.