Thirty-two members of the Utah Army National Guard were called to active duty Friday and will be ordered to report to Fort Carson, Colo., soon to participate in Operation Desert Shield.
Maj. Gen. John L. Matthews, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, announced Friday that 18 members of the 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion in Draper and 14 members of the 120th Quartermaster Detachment in American Fork were being notified by telephone Friday that they are being placed on alert.The names of individual soldiers who will be involved were not released.
The intelligence battalion has almost 400 linguists whose training is divided by language specialty. Only those with training in Middle East languages are being activated. Members of the battalion may or may not live in the Draper area where the battalion has its headquarters. Members of the quartermaster battalion, which specializes in water purification, live mostly in or near American Fork, said Maj. Bob Nelson, public affairs officer for the Utah National Guard.
"They are being told that their unit has been called to active duty and they will be alerted as to the exact time that they need to report as soon as that information is available," Matthews said, adding that he does not know when the National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon will request the soldiers to report for duty. "We're anticipating it will be shortly, but we do not know."
Another 26 members of the Utah Air National Guard, forming five crews that fly KC-135 air refueling tankers, continue to serve in the Middle East operation on a voluntary basis, the general said, and additional Utah Guard members may be called to active duty as well. Matthews would not speculate which additional units could be activated, saying that would only heighten the anxiety of the part-time soldiers and their family members who know there is a chance of a call-up but have heard no official word.
"This call-up procedure is a phased procedure," Matthews said. "This is the initial phase of the call-up. We do have other units in the state of Utah that are candidates for call-up, but we have no information as to whether or not they will be called. So therefore we're not able to release either their unit designations or any other information because they may in fact not be called."
If the total call-ups from Utah follow a national average for the reserve component forces expected to be involved in Operation Desert Shield, Matthews said the activation would affect one in 23 Utah Guard members.
Matthews said he does not know the eventual destination of the soldiers being activated. "Once on active duty, we are not given information as to the final destination of our individuals once they are called up. They become a part of the Army and are under the control of the Army and the Army sends them where they want them." Matthews said he understands that most of the reserve component forces activated nationwide will end up in the Middle East, but he would not speculate about how many of the Utah troops will go there.
Once the soldiers, all of them men, are notified when they are to report, the entire group will be called initially to the National Guard Headquarters in Draper, where the soldiers and their family members will be given information, and where the soldiers will be given a refresher course in chemical warfare. Members of both the linguist and quartermaster units will then be transferred from National Guard control to the Army and will travel to Fort Carson.
Matthews said the Friday press conference is a one-time event to announce the initial activation. Information about any subsequent activations will be made through the Guard's public affairs office.
He said the family members and employers of National Guard members are called on to support the decision to use National Guard troops in the military.
*****
National Guard
Smithfield - Field Artillery, 78
Logan - Field Artillery and Military Intelligence, 135
Brigham City - Field Artillery, 79
Ogden - Field Artillery and Military Intelligence, 263
Layton - Airborne Special Forces, 94
Bountiful - Military Intelligence, 101
Salt Lake City - I Corps Artillery, Field Artillery, Airborne, Special Forces Public Affairs, Army Band and Evacuation Hospital 1,072
Murray - Engineers and Military Police, 270
West Jordan - Attack and Support Helicopters, 379
Tooele - Engineers, 92
Riverton - Engineers and Heavy Equipment Maintenance, State Area Command, Airborne Special Forces and Airborne Signal and Service, Military Academy and Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, 705
Draper - State Area Command, Military Intelligence, 815
Lehi - Engineers, 140
American Fork - Engineers and Quartermaster, 203
Vernal - Engineers, 71
Provo - Engineers, Airborne Special Forces, Military Intelligence, 421
Springville - Engineers, 199
Spanish Fork - Field Artillery, 102
Nephi - Engineers, 60
Price - Engineers, 94
Mt. Pleasant - Engineers, 81
Manti - Field Artillery, 117
Fillmore - Field Artillery, 109
Richfield - Field Artillery, 114
Beaver - Field Artillery, 78
Cedar City - Field Artillery, 144
Blanding - Engineers, 62
St. George - Field Artillery, 222
*The number of members in individual units are from older data and therefore do not exactly match state totals.