Boise-area reservists get training for Iraq

BOISE – Fifteen Boise-area Army reservists are being deployed to Iraq, and as many as 150 more may be headed overseas soon.

The 15 members of the 321st Engineer Battalion are going to Fort Lewis in Washington to train for deployment to Iraq along with the 659th Engineer Company from Spokane, said Maj. Hillary Luton, spokeswoman for the Reserve’s 70th Regional Readiness Command in Seattle.

The 659th is a road-building unit.

This week, the Army announced an overall increase in the number of Army reservists called to active duty. The Army National Guard and Army Reserve have 146,671 soldiers on active-duty supporting mobilizations.

Army Reserve soldiers from engineer units in Boise and Utah volunteered to fill positions within the 659th. Mobilizations typically last 18 months, Luton said.

As many as 150 more Idaho reservists from the 321st could be activated to serve in the Middle East with another engineer battalion from Tennessee, Luton said.

Maj. Teressa Burke, executive officer for the 321st at Gowen Field in Boise, said her battalion has received no official orders about call-ups for the additional 150.

“That number did come up. It’s just discussing plans of what we may need to provide. Until we get the official requirement, we are just going to train and wait,” Burke said.

But Burke did say that a mobilization order for additional members of the battalion’s approximately 400 reservists is a possibility.

The 321st Engineer Battalion is based in Boise and responsible for minefield clearance, demolitions and route reconnaissance, among other duties, Burke said.

In the meantime, all the 321st’s reservists have completed the soldier readiness process to get their personal, financial and health issues in order in the event they are deployed, Luton said.

“Anything can happen at this point in time,” Luton said. “It’s not exactly a surprise to anybody. Any soldier who says they are surprised they got mobilized has been living under a rock.”