National Guard Troops Called To Duty

This comes as the defense department plans to send an additional 12-thousand National Guard troops to Iraq and Afganistan. The troops headed to Iraq are members of the National Guard 142-nd Field Artillery. And for some, this isn`t the first time they`ve had to make the trip overseas. Troops of the 142-nd will leave for Fort Sill, Oklahoma next week for further training before they are sent overseas for about a year. This will be Sgt. Richard Nelson`s second tour of duty in Iraq. Nelson spent time overseas before returning home about a year ago. "I`m okay with it because I`ve seen the positives that we`re doing over there as an army as far as rebuilding and taking care of things, I`m looking forward to going back." Staff Sgt. Scott Rea says leaving his family for the first time will be hard, but he`s worked to prepare himself for it. "I`m married and I have three kids, but they`re ready, we kind of prepared for this, my wife is in the military too...going through my mind is just making sure that I`m ready...make sure you`re physically and mentally ready for the deployment itself, the mission." After the President`s request to send 21-thousand more U.S. troops to fight the war, the army is stretched thin, and more and more local reserved troops are preparing themselves for deployment orders. "They realize that when I made the commitment to become a soldier that there were certain duties that come with it, they respect what I did and they`re going to live with it," Sgt. Nelson says.