Orange Guardsmen Tapped for Mission

More than 100 National Guard troops based in Orange will be deployed this week for duty in Southwest Asia, which includes the Persian Gulf nations, officials said.

The unit--Company B, 1st Battalion, 160th Regiment--will depart this week to Camp Roberts north of Paso Robles, where they will undergo additional training before being sent to their assignment, Staff Sgt. Thomas Murotake said.

The call-up is not a result of the homeland defense or airport security missions, but part of ongoing peacekeeping efforts around the world, he added.

“This is actually something that we have been doing for several years now,” Murotake said. “Every six months or so, a National Guard unit somewhere in the country is tapped for a National Guard mission. And this time, it’s our turn.”

The troops based in Orange, roughly 150 of them, have known about the mission for at least six months and some for as long as a year. They are expected to be mobilized for duty for about six months.

Another company, based in Fullerton, was deployed to Kuwait in September to support Operation Desert Spring, which provides security for Patriot missile batteries that protect Kuwait from the threat of missiles from nearby Iraq.

Murotake declined to release any specific details about Company B’s mission because of security issues.

“They could be protecting facilities, supply facilities or armament,” Murotake said.