Oregon Guard training for Afghanistan mission

As President Obama announced Tuesday a continued presence of nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after formal combat operations end late this year, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and the leader of the Oregon Army National Guard visited Guard soldiers Tuesday training in Idaho for their upcoming deployment.

The Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team is scheduled to mobilize three battalions totaling nearly 900 soldiers to Afghanistan this summer as part of the regular rotational cycle of forces to provide security missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Wyden and Maj. Gen. Daniel Hokanson, Oregon's adjutant general visited with deploying Soldiers as they conducted pre-mobilization training at the Orchard Combat Training Center, an Idaho National Guard training facility south of Boise. About 400 soldiers will deploy with 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, headquartered in Springfield, with companies also based in Corvallis, Gresham, and Hillsboro. A mobilization ceremony is scheduled for June 7 at the Salem Armory Auditorium, located at 2310 17th Street NE, in Salem, Ore. The ceremony begins at 2:00 p.m.