Guard call up is biggest since WWII

Guard call-up: 1 per 500 residents

By Jesse Roman

Published:

Thursday, December 3, 2009 12:10 PM EST

On Tuesday, President Obama outlined for an anxious public his strategy for the war in Afghanistan.

Among other things, the president announced the United States will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan to help stabilize its frail government and build the infrastructure and institutions necessary to ensure Islamic extremists don’t regain control of the country.

It’s unlikely Vermont will be asked to increase its already heavy burden; the state is already committed to deploying more than 1,200 Vermont National Guard members at the beginning of 2010.

“As of now, there is no indication that our mission has changed,” Col. Lloyd Goodrow, public affairs officer for the Vermont Guard, said Wednesday in an interview. “We are working with the same numbers as we have been the last 18 months.”

Most of the 30,000 additional soldiers the president is asking to go to Afghanistan will be combat troops. The Associated Press reports that the Army brigades most likely to deploy are those from Fort Drum in New York, Fort Campbell in Kentucky, and Marines from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Even without having to call up more Vermont soldiers, the current deployment is the largest for Vermont Guardsmen and women since World War II. A few towns in Lamoille County are especially hard hit.

Thirteen Morristown residents will leave their families, jobs and civilian responsibilities to fight in Afghanistan early next year — about one in 395 residents. Jeffersonville, a tiny village of fewer than 600 people in the town of Cambridge, is sending 11 citizens to Afghanistan, a staggering one of every 51 residents. Tiny Elmore, with a population of just under 1,000, is sending three citizens to the Middle East.

All told, 48 men and women from Lamoille County will be deployed, about one per 500 county residents. That almost exactly matches the Vermont average.

Stowe and Belvidere are the only towns in Lamoille County not sending any residents to Afghanistan, according to the Vermont National Guard. The Guard does not disclose the names of the soldiers being deployed.

Towns with high deployment rates will likely face big challenges in the coming year, Goodrow said: “When you deploy a National Guard member, you’re also deploying a valuable member of the community.”

“People who tend to join the National Guard are also those who tend to be very involved in community service: the Little League coaches, the church leaders, the volunteer firefighters.”

Most of those Guard members are also leaving jobs that their employers must figure out how to fill. By law, Guard members are entitled to be rehired after their deployment. In the meantime, the employers can hire temporary help, but it can be difficult to find a qualified person to fill the void right away.

“There is a pretty severe impact on civilian employers,” Goodrow says. “We ask them to make a big sacrifice.”

But that’s nothing compared to the sacrifice of families. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives and husbands are all leaving for a year.

A statewide program helps families with mental and financial support, as well as the arduous task of sifting through insurance and other documents. Centers have been set up in each county to help Guard families. The closest Family Assistance Center is at the Berlin Armory in Berlin.

Home for now

Most of the Vermont men and women scheduled for deployment are home now, after a month of training session at Fort Polk in Louisiana.

However, later this month, waves of Vermont soldiers will start leaving to train at the Camp Atterbury mobilization center in Edinburgh, Ind. Two groups will leave in December and two more in January, Goodrow said.

A short break in the training schedule will allow the soldiers to come home to their families in Vermont in late December. The government won’t pay to get the soldiers home, since the soldiers will officially be “on leave,” not on active duty, Goodrow said.

“It would be an inappropriate use of federal funds,” Goodrow said.

So, Vermonters mounted a very successful campaign called Operation Holiday Homecoming; it has raised more than $175,000 to rent coach buses to bring the soldiers home.

The trip is expected to cost just under $100,000. The extra money will go to the National Guard Charitable Foundation to support Guard families during the deployment.

After the holidays, the soldiers will go back to Camp Atterbury and will begin leaving for Afghanistan in early 2010. The military will not say exactly where the Vermont soldiers are headed, but most will be helping to rebuild an Afghanistan that has been torn apart by decades of nonstop conflict.

“The mission is working within the civilian infrastructure and law enforcement,” Goodrow said. “To help them, and put them back on their feet.”

At home, Vermonters will help their friends, neighbors and families who need help of their own, staying on their feet while their loved ones are gone.

Central Vermont

Central Vermont will be especially hard hit by the upcoming deployment. Sixteen soldiers from Waterbury are leaving to fight in Afghanistan early next year. In Duxbury, two soldiers are being deployed; in Moretown, five; in Warren and Waitsfield, three each.

All told, 146 men and women from Washington County will be deployed, about one for every 400 county residents, which is higher than the state average.

Waterbury, Barre, Montpelier and Northfield are all sending many more troops per capita than the state average. In Waterbury, about one of every 300 town residents will be deployed. In Barre, it’s one for every 175 residents. In Northfield, it’s one for every 200.

Guard deployment in Lamoille County

Morristown: 13 soldiers (1 in 395 people)

Jeffersonville: 11 (1 in 51)

Johnson: 9 (1 in 363)

Hyde Park: 5 (1 in 588)

Elmore: 3 (1 in 283)

Cambridge: 2

Eden: 2

Wolcott: 2

Waterville: 1

Belvidere: 0

Stowe: 0

County total: 48 (1 in 500)

*Population figures based on 2000 census.

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Want to help?

• Donate a calling card to help keep service members in touch with their families: www.operationuplink.org.

• E-mail a greeting to a soldier through Operation Dear Abby at http://anyservicemember.navy.mil or www.OperationDearAbby.net.

• Sign a virtual thank-you card at www.defendamerica.mil/nmam.html.

• Donate to the Operation USO Care Package at www.usocares.org.

• Donate to Cell Phones for Soldiers, a program started by Massachusetts teenagers who wanted to help soldiers overseas call home. You can donate a cell phone, money or calling cards at www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com.

• Support the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services at www.redcross.org/services/afes.

• Volunteer at a Veterans Administration hospital. Visit www.va.gov/vetsday.

• Help the American Legion provide service members’ families with support and Blue Star Banners, which hang outside the house to indicate they have a family member serving overseas.

• Simply reach out to military families in your community, especially those with a loved one overseas.