N.J. Guard deployment worries state lawmaker

[unhappycamper]

N.J. Guard deployment worries state lawmaker
By Tom Hester Jr. - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 16, 2008 19:00:10 EDT

TRENTON, N.J. — About half the New Jersey National Guard will be deployed overseas within six months, and that has a top senator worried that their absence might leave the state vulnerable.

“There is a great need for our citizen soldiers to serve our country overseas, and although I fully support the troops and their families during these difficult times, I am concerned that the deployments may jeopardize the safety of New Jersey residents,” Senate Budget Chairwoman Barbara Buono said Wednesday.

The upcoming deployment will be the largest in the 6,200-soldier New Jersey National Guard’s history. It will include soldiers from the 2,400-member 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which was previously deployed to Iraq in 2004.

Training and deployment are expected to last 18 to 20 months, Maj. Gen. Glenn Rieth, the state’s adjutant general, told a Senate budget hearing Wednesday.

Rieth said the department remains ready for emergencies.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_newjersey_guard_041608/