1st Battalion soldiers will be sent to Kuwait

About 200 members of the 1st Battalion, 109th Field Artillery in Kingston will be deployed to Kuwait in October as part of a basic security forces mission in, Capt. Cliff Morales said Friday.

The soldiers are being attached to two other National Guard units involved in the mission, the 1st Squadron, 104th Cavalry and the 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry.

This marks the latest in a list of deployments for the 109th, which has been deployed numerous times since July 2002, Morales said.

"We have some soldiers this will be their third deployment," Morales said.

Morales said the mission is expected to last about a year. The soldiers will first be sent to training in Camp Shelby in Mississippi for about two months before shipping out to Kuwait.

At least 60 soldiers based at the armory in Hometown will also be deployed, said Sgt. Matt Jones, a spokesman for the National Guard in Harrisburg.

A send-off ceremony for the 109th soldiers will be held on Sept. 9 at 2:30 p.m. at the armory. The ceremony is being held in conjunction with an annual memorial service to honor military personnel who died serving the country.