National Guard to send 18,000 soldiers to Iraq

? About 18,000 National Guard soldiers from four major units have gone on alert for likely deployment to Iraq late this year or in early 2005, the Pentagon said Monday.

The announcement underscores the deepening involvement of Guard and Reserve forces in U.S.-led efforts to quell the insurgency in Iraq and stabilize the country. So far 45 Guard and Reserve members have been killed in action in Iraq, and 42 more have died of nonhostile causes.

The Guard units alerted are the 42nd Infantry Division headquarters from the New York National Guard, the 256th Infantry Brigade from Louisiana, the 116th Cavalry Brigade from Idaho and Oregon, and the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment from Tennessee.

They will be mobilized over the next several months to conduct training before their new assignment, the Pentagon said.

The 42nd Infantry Division from New York will be the first National Guard division headquarters to serve in Iraq; other Guard division headquarters have served in the Balkans in recent years.

With receipt of the alert notices, members of those units are prevented from leaving the service until 90 days after their mobilization ends.

The Pentagon did not say how long they would be on active duty, suggesting it might be less than the 12-month tours required of Guard and Reserve members now in Iraq and of those heading to Iraq this spring. Under the presidential authority used to mobilize for Iraq, they could be kept on active duty for up to two years.

The Pentagon said additional Guard forces would be alerted and mobilized for Iraq duty, but did not say how many or from which states.