2. Guard deploys to Kuwait

The Minnesota National Guard announced on Jan. 23 that it would prepare for its second-largest deployment since World War II. It would send more than 2,400 members to Iraq and Kuwait. They were to provide base and convoy security as the United States begins its drawdown of troops in Iraq.

But first, it said, they would go to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin in May for training.

And that’s just what happened. Also, the Albert Lea community gathered to prepare to support families. The American Red Cross offered a class on coping with deployments. And the Albert Lea unit of the National Guard — Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division — held a change of command ceremony in April. Capt. Sam Andrews passed command to Capt. Steven Wayne.

On May 31, nearly 600 people attended a deployment ceremony at the Albert Lea Armory. Hugs were visible nearly everywhere. The Patriot Guard arrived to escort the colors. Speakers included state Rep. Rich Murray.

The soldiers departed for Fort McCoy, and in late June, the Albert Lea Tribune sent reporter Kelli Lageson to Fort McCoy to report on their training. They trained on gunnery skills, rifle marksmanship, Mideastern cultural awareness, Arabic language and negotiating, among other tasks.

Before the soldiers left for Kuwait in mid-July there was a family picnic. The civic organization, Serving Our Troops, served soldiers and family members a free steak dinner. And a new group called the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon of Albert Lea was working to make itself better known. The group focuses on assisting family members while soldiers are away. Finally, in August, the last wave of the 2,400 departed.

In October, the Tribune told its readers that it would send Lageson to Kuwait. She would fly from Minneapolis to Kuwait City on Nov. 4 and go to a base away from the city in the desert. There, she would stay for a week and produce stories, photos, videos and blog entries for the Tribune and its sister paper, the Austin Daily Herald.

In that week in November, she gave readers insight into where soldiers slept, the work they performed, the risks they took when they ventured into Iraq, the medical care they received, the places in which they stayed fit and the mail they received, among other topics. Readers absorbed profiles on some of the soldiers and learned where they were from and the challenges of being a soldier in the Mideast.

One of the soldiers, Sgt. Thomas Estes, came home for two weeks during the holidays and surprised his children in a Northwood, Iowa, classroom. Tammy, his wife, set up the surprise after finding out when her husband would be home on leave.

While the U.S. military has left Iraq — meaning National Guard don’t make trips over the border anymore — the military force remains in Kuwait. Delta Company along with the rest of the Minnesota National Guard units are hoping to return to the States in early May.