2,400 Minn. Guardsmen Deploying For Kuwait

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- More than 2,000 soldiers from the Minnesota Army National Guard are leaving to begin training for a one-year deployment overseas.

The soldiers will be supporting Operation New Dawn, which is the drawdown phase of the U.S. military operations in Iraq.

They'll be stationed in Kuwait. And they'll be responsible for providing base management and securing the ground convoys of troops, equipment and supplies throughout Iraq.

A departure ceremony is being held Sunday for departing members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Red Bull Infantry Division. The ceremony is at 11 a.m. at Fort Snelling.

The troops will head to Fort McCoy, Wis., for training, and they'll go to Kuwait this summer.

The departure marks the second largest deployment of the Minnesota National Guard since World War II.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)