76th Infantry Brigade Prepares for Deployment in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The Adjutant General of the Indiana National Guard, Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, has informed Col. Courtney Carr, Commander of the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, that Indiana National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters has received mobilization orders for the brigade. The 76th IBCT is headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind.

"Col. Carr has our full support as he continues to prepare the 76th IBCT for deployment," said Maj. Gen. Umbarger. "The brigade has an exceptional amount of experience and talent. The state's successful recruiting efforts have
given us the additional numbers of quality individuals we need to meet these challenges."

An expected 3,400 soldiers will continue to focus on individual training tasks over the coming months before reporting for final training at the mobilization station.

Maj. Gen. Umbarger has instructed his staff, including State Family Programs and the Employer Support of Guard and Reserve office, to identify all available resources in preparation for the deployment.

Maj. Gen. Umbarger was notified last February that the 76th IBCT had been nominated as a deployment resource for 2008. Since that time Soldiers from across the state of Indiana have been preparing.

Even with this large deployment, there will remain 8,000 Air and Army National Guard Soldiers in Indiana to provide support to the citizens of the state.

"To support our families, we're leaving behind a robust cadre of full time Soldiers, augmented by contracted family assistance specialists around the state to help our families with those issues that naturally arise- pay,
insurance, and employment questions and other household difficulties for example," said Col. Carr. "I am confident that our families will have tremendous support during our deployment."

Units from across the state will deploy with the brigade:

•   113th Combat Support Battalion, Columbus, Ind.;
•   1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment, Jasper, Ind.;
•   1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry Regiment, New Albany, Ind.;
•   1st Battalion, 293rd Infantry Regiment, Fort Wayne, Ind.;
•   1st Battalion, 163rd Field Artillery, Evansville, Ind.;
•   76th Special Troops Battalion, Indianapolis, Ind.;
•   Headquarters and Headquarters Service Battery, 3rd Battalion, 139th Field Artillery, Crawfordsville, Ind.;
•   Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 150th Field Artillery, Greencastle, Ind.;
•   1638th Transportation Company, Remington, Ind.

Source: Indiana National Guard