The Iowa Army National Guard is mobilizing 390 soldiers based in four Iowa cities for deployment to the U.S. Central Command, which could assign them to Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa and other regions.
The troops are members of the 248th Aviation Support Battalion, which includes helicopter maintainers, helicopter test pilots, and logistical support personnel.
Jason Hager, of Prairie du Chien, is among the men and women deploying, in addition to Steve Gray and Michael Spring, both northeast Iowa residents who work at Pattison Sand Company.
The soldiers are based in Boone, Muscatine, Davenport and Waterloo, and they represent the Iowa National Guard’s largest single-unit deployment since 2010, according to information Col. Gregory Hapgood Jr., the Guard’s public affairs officer at Camp Dodge, gave the Des Moines Register.