Cottage Grove-based soldiers headed to Iraq

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — A deployment ceremony will be held in Cottage Grove tomorrow for 82 Iraq-bound National Guard soldiers.

The 204th Area Support Medical Company will provide medical support for coalition forces during their one-year deployment. The soldiers will receive several weeks of training in Washington prior to their departure to Camp Bucca in southern Iraq.

The deployment marks the first tour of duty for about two-thirds of the company. About one-fourth of the soldiers have dependent children, and about half are women.

The ceremony will be at the Cottage Grove Ice Arena at 10 a.m.