8-23-12
About 150 Wisconsin National Guard troops are getting ready to go to Afghanistan.
A send-off ceremony will be held Saturday at Prairie du Chien High School for members of two units – the 229th Engineer Company of Prairie du Chien and Platteville, and the 106th Quarry Detachment unit from Tomah. They’ll perform engineering construction work in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province. But first, they’ll get 45 days of training at Fort Bliss in Texas. Both units are part of the Guard’s 724th Engineer Battalion – and it’s been awhile since they’ve been deployed. Part of the 229th Engineer unit spent 14 months in Iraq in 2003, helping with numerous construction projects. The Tomah quarry unit used to be based in Ashland. They were planning to go abroad in 2003 when their mission changed, and they ended supporting an advanced R-O-T-C camp at Fort Lewis in Washington State.
