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50 Tucson Guardsmen on way to Iraq

Citizen Staff

They’re among 400 Arizonans en route. Soon, 121 Tucsonans return.

By C.T. REVERE

ctrevere@tucsoncitizen.com

Nearly 400 members of the Arizona Army National Guard, including about 50 from the Tucson area, will deploy today as part of the second rotation of troops to Iraq, a Guard spokeswoman said.

This weekend, 121 members of a Tucson-based transportation unit will return from a nine-month stint in Iraq.

Among the units being deployed today is the Tucson-based 852nd Rear Area Operations Center, which includes about 30 soldiers, said Maj. Eileen Bienz, public affairs officer for the Arizona Army Guard.

“They work for the commander of a theater of operations, helping to coordinate logistics for movement of equipment and personnel,” Bienz said.

About 20 more Tucsonans assigned to the Phoenix-based 3666th Maintenance Company also will be deployed.

Members of six units from around the state will leave today for Fort Bliss in Texas, where they will receive orders for deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom II, the second rotation of troops to Iraq, Bienz said.

The new deployments are part of the ongoing mobilization of Army and Air National Guard units ordered by the White House to support the global war on terror. Some 670 Arizona Army Guard soldiers are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Saturday, the 2222nd Transportation Company will return to Tucson after serving in Iraq since April, Bienz said. The 121 members of the “Four Deuce” were deployed in February.

“The unit hauled 12 million gallons of JP8 (a form of military fuel), 637,000 gallons of MOGAS (another fuel mixture) and 625,000 gallons of water, while driving more than 1.25 million miles,” Bienz said.

No soldiers from the Arizona Army Guard have died, Bienz said.

“We have lost none, thank God, but we have had a few injuries,” she said.

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