SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Long gone are the days when members of the Oregon National Guard were weekend warriors who fought fires and floods.
The Statesman Journal reports (http://bit.ly/nQtEtu ) that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, changed virtually everything about the Oregon National Guard. How they operate, how they train, how they deploy and how they are viewed.
Most of them have now combat experience in Iraq or Afghanistan, or both.
Twenty-nine Oregon Army National Guard units have deployed to Iraq, 10 to Afghanistan, and others to Kuwait, to Cuba and stateside.
Oregon has supplied 14,000 Army and Air Guard troops to the war effort.
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Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com
