Untitled Document

News Release
Congressman Bob Etheridge
North Carolina

January 13, 2004

Contact: Sara Lang
Phone: (202) 225-4531

Etheridge Travels with N.C. National Guard to Train for Iraqi Tour

RALEIGH - U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) will travel to Fort Polk, Louisiana, this week to observe the training of 4,800 N.C. National Guard soldiers as they prepare for deployment to Iraq. Etheridge will meet with the soldiers, receive briefings and observe battle exercises as the 30th Heavy Separate Brigade (HSB) readies for a tour in the area north of Baghdad.

"I am proud of the men and women of North Carolina's National Guard who are serving their country and protecting our freedom," Etheridge said. "I know firsthand that our troops are the finest fighting force on the face of the earth. They are well trained, highly motivated and superbly led. Their mission in Iraq is difficult and complex, and the Sunni Triangle is a dangerous place. But I have every confidence our soldiers will rise to the occasion and win the day."

The 30th HSB, which is based out of Clinton, will be attached to the 1st Infantry Division and will replace the 4th Infantry Division, which has been based in Tikrit. At Fort Polk, the soldiers will receive nearly two weeks of training to prepare them for their work in Iraq. Iraqi villages and countryside will be re-created and populated by nearly 1,000 actors and soldiers. The realistic exercises will simulate the conditions, tasks and challenges the soldiers will face during their tour in Iraq.

Etheridge, who served in the U.S. Army, attended the farewell ceremony when this brigade was activated in October. More than 174,000 reservists and National Guardsman are currently on active duty and 34 of them have been killed while serving in Iraq. The N.C. troops are part of a massive troop rotation that the Pentagon began this month. Once the rotation is complete, the National Guard and Reserve will make up nearly 40 percent of the American forces in Iraq.