Guard's return to Iraq not definite

BONNERS FERRY — The possibility that some 20 Bonners Ferry soldiers with Idaho National Guard would be deployed to Iraq in 2010 is not set in stone.

“There’s been no official word of anyone going anywhere,” said Lt. Co. Tim Marsano, spokesman for the Guard’s 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team Guard.

“It starts with an alert notification. We have not received that. Nothing happens without that.”

Maj. Gen. Larry LaFrenz early last week told lawmakers during a budget hearing on the Idaho’s military division that the Guard would be headed to Iraq next year.

“Our commanding general was telling them he felt it was probable, that it could happen next year,” Marsano said. “He has no official indication that that is actually so. When we are alerted, that is the first step of the process.”

The 116th includes 4,700 soldiers, most of whom are from Idaho with some from Montana and Oregon. The unit was deployed to Iraq for 18 months in 2004-05. The Guard received word about that deployment four months before they had to leave, Marsano said.

“We would hope we would get alert certification several months in advance,” Marsano said. “Last time we were alerted, it was in February. It was a very short notice.”

If the local guard returns to Iraq, it would be for 12 months.