Kentucky Guard Members Deployed Overseas Will Lessen, But Not Cease

by Dan Conti, Kentucky Public RadioU.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan mean fewer people from National Guard units in Kentucky will be heading overseas, according to Brigadier General Lonnie Culver.“As we draw down, the Kentucky National Guard deployments will lessen as well, Culver, who is also the Deputy Adjutant General for the Kentucky Guard, said. “But they won’t be eliminated. One Hundred Forty-Ninth Maneuver Enhancement Brigade just completed the mobilization and deployment of the largest single-unit mobilization since World War Two for service in Iraq with almost 1,400 soldiers.”General Culver says the Kentucky Guard currently has units ready to deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and the Horn of Africa. He says they’ve been involved in projects like intelligence collection and analysis, route clearance and economic development.General Culver testified last week before the Kentucky Legislature’s interim joint Committee on Military Affairs and Public Protection.