3 R.I. units are called to active duty

More than 270 troops got the word over the weekend that they are being deployed overseas.

10:05 AM EST on Wednesday, December 1, 2004

BY TONY De PAUL
Journal Staff Writer

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CRANSTON -- Three more Rhode Island National Guard units have been called to active duty in the war in Iraq, increasing from 662 to 940 the number of Rhode Island Guard troops deployed overseas, at bases in other states, or preparing for an overseas tour.

Maj. Gen. Reginald A. Centracchio said yesterday he had received orders over the weekend to mobilize the Army Guard's 861st Engineer Company and 172nd Infantry, both based in East Greenwich, and an additional 58 members of the Air Guard's 143rd Airlift Wing, out of Quonset Point, North Kingstown.

Thirty-six members of the 143rd Airlift Wing already are serving in Kuwait and are scheduled to return home in January.

"Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Rhode Island National Guard has mobilized and deployed over 3,500 personnel. This figure marks the largest deployment of Rhode Island National Guard troops since the First World War," Centracchio said.

The latest call-up "does not release any of our [already deployed] units to be coming home earlier than they're scheduled to," he said.

Before reporting for duty to Iraq, the 100 engineers will deploy initially to Camp Shelby, Miss., and the 120 infantry troops to Fort Stewart, Ga. Both units are expected to leave Rhode Island sometime in January.

The additional airmen affected by the latest call-up will deploy directly to Kuwait on Dec. 13, in one of three C130J-30 transport aircraft flown by the Rhode Island Air National Guard.

Centracchio said the Guard troops under his command have "extraordinarily high morale," despite the dangers of deployment to a war zone and the stress it puts on their families.

"We have not had one single soldier or airman refuse to go, which is extraordinary," he said. "This is their federal mission."

The troops can expect to spend 12 to 14 months on active duty, Centracchio said.

They were notified over the weekend, and the Guard was in the process yesterday of notifying their employers, according to Centracchio.

The 940 Guard troops already serving on active duty or just now ordered to deploy represent 28 percent of their 3,360 members.

Centracchio said the latest orders to mobilize troops "do not impact the Rhode Island National Guard's ability to handle any state emergency," whether it be a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

When the most recently mobilized members of the 143rd Airlift Wing arrive in Kuwait, it will represent the nation's first wartime deployment of the C130J-30 aircraft, Centracchio said. The new aircraft, 30 feet longer than the transport version it is designed to replace, is able to lift more weight and fly at a higher altitude and at greater speed.

The Rhode Island Air Guard has three of the aircraft based at Quonset Point and is scheduled to take delivery of five more by 2008.

The Rhode Island Guard has lost five members in the war in Iraq, its first combat casualties since World War II. They are: Joseph Camara, of New Bedford; Charles Caldwell, of North Providence; Michael Andrade, of Bristol; Christopher Potts, of Tiverton; and Eric Miner, of Brooklyn, Conn.

Seventy-seven Rhode Island Guard members have been wounded in combat or injured in accidents.

None of the Guard troops ordered to active duty over the weekend have previously served overseas since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Centracchio said.