The National Guard ordered Monday four more Wisconsin units to be deployed as of early next month.
About 200 men and women from all over Wisconsin, including about a half-dozen University of Wisconsin students, were called to active duty. An additional 500 Wisconsin residents may also be deployed within the next couple of months. The soldiers will remain at their respective posts for about 18 months.
Despite popular belief, many of those called to duty are not necessarily headed for Iraq.
According to Lt. Col. Tim Donovan from the Wisconsin National Guard, the soldiers will be dispatched to U.S. military bases all over the world.
“The soldiers have been called to active duty, and we don’t know where exactly they are going … they may be deployed anywhere in the world,” Donovan said.
Many of the soldiers being deployed are from specialty units. Most of those being called to duty are in engineering, medical, personnel services and mobile public affairs units.
Several of the soldiers from Madison are students and will have to drop their studies to serve duty.
“It is very typical of the National Guard to have college students because many of those in the reserves joined to help pay for school,” Donovan said. “All those that are enrolled have their tuition covered.”
However, Chuck Goranson, advisor at Vets for Vets, said that their deployment comes at a bad time.
“It’s unfortunate timing because they are being called up at the end of the semester,” Goranson said of them not being able to complete their fall courses.
UW provides several options for those students who must leave. They can choose to withdraw and get a 100 percent tuition refund, take incompletes in their current courses, receive partial credit for their work, or any combination of these options.
“The university tries to be as flexible as possible to accommodate their wishes,” UW assistant registrar Catherine Sheskey said.
Sheskey added that these students do not lose their standing, but they will have to reapply to enroll in other courses when they return. UW has a Student Veteran Service office that advises students on what to do when they leave and come back to campus.
“We help them navigate through the bureaucracy,” Sheskey said.
The last significant group of students who were deployed left in January 2003. Sheskey said there were several waves that added up to be more than the number scheduled to leave Dec. 7. But the way things are looking, there could be more students called to active duty.
Many UW students have mixed feelings about the deployment of classmates and soldiers.
UW junior Alex Wong, whose brother served in Kosovo, is sympathetic toward those being deployed.
“I think it’s sad that young people have to be taken away from their families for extended periods of time to support the military actions of a government that many of its own people don’t,” Wong said. “Despite that, I still support them wholeheartedly and take pride in the fact that they represent America.”
UW junior Ryan Wilson shares a similar sentiment but believes that this is part of the soldier’s duty.
“I feel bad for the families, but they knew that they could be called in. They are performing the duty expected of them, and they should be proud to serve,” Wilson said. “They are ultimately making America a safer place.”
Currently, there are more than 1,500 members of the armed forces deployed from Wisconsin. Of that number, approximately 950 are abroad. With the deployment of these additional four units, the number of those currently serving from Wisconsin will increase to 1,730, equaling the nationwide average of approximately 25 percent of total forces.