Ohio Guard call-up said to be largest since WW II ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS - The U.S. military is giving the Ohio National Guard its biggest call-up since World War II this week, sending about 1,600 troops to Kuwait, with some of them going on to Iraq.
With their departure, the guard is doing more to help members' families.
The 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is spread throughout Ohio and includes another 1,100 soldiers from Michigan.
Members of the unit have been deployed in individual companies or battalions since the terrorist attacks of 2001, but it's more than 60 years since so many left as one unit, Guard spokesman Maj. Nicole Gabriel said.
Some 300 Ohio Guard members are deployed now, Major Gabriel said. The Ohio Guard, including the Army and Air branches, has a total strength of more than 15,000.
The unit will be based in Kuwait and will have some responsibility for security and convoy escorts in southern Iraq, said Col. Richard Curry, brigade commander.
The old 37th Division fought in the Pacific during World War II and had 9,800 Purple Heart and seven Medal of Honor recipients. The division was retired in 1968.
The 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was created this year as part of the military's reorganization into smaller and more easily deployable brigades.
The 37th includes infantry, artillery, and support units that specialize in engineering, maintenance, and health care.
The Ohio Guard will bring new support programs and strengthen others for the families at home.
Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt, Ohio's adjutant general, said the Guard has moved from a strictly reserve force to more of an active-duty one and families will have the support they would find on an active-duty base,
Since the Iraq war began in 2003, the Ohio Guard has been learning how to provide that support, General Wayt said.
"Because the 37th draws from such a wide geographic area," General Wayt said, "the Guard has to work harder to make sure the families are in touch with each other and the services they need."
He said men and women will not want to enlist if it causes family problems.
"If we don't take care of all of our families, we're not going to be able to sustain our force," he said. "Even if someone leaves the Guard, we want them to say, 'When I was in the military, they took care of me and my family.'•"
As a result, the Guard is beginning or strengthening:
• A youth mobilization camp that allows military children to meet other children in their same situation.
• Intensive premobilization briefings to help families with medical, legal, and financial concerns.
• Monthly family-readiness group meetings during which unit commanders call in from overseas to answer questions.
• A Web site that helps families and soldiers keep track of one another's schedules, post podcasts, and create photo albums.
"We do get better at this," said Lt. Col. Robert Bramlish, the state family-program director, of how the guard prepares families.