More than 300 members of the New Jersey Army National Guard have been notified that they will be called to extended active duty service under Title 10 USC in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the ongoing war against global terrorism.  The troops will be drawn primarily from 1st Battalion, 114th Infantry (1-114th), units to include Headquarters and Headquarters Company, located in Woodbury; A Company, 1-114th headquartered in Mount Holly; B Company, 1-114th located in Freehold; and C Company, 1-114th headquartered in Burlington.

     The Jersey Guard troops are expected to deploy to the Arabian Peninsula.  The deployment is expected to last up to 18 months and is part of the second round of rotations of Guard and Reserve units called up in support of Operations Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom.

     A “media availability” with troops will be scheduled sometime in May 2004.

    To date, more than 900 New Jersey Army and Air National Guard members have been mobilized and deployed for extended active duty in support of a variety of Homeland Defense and Homeland Security missions.  Jersey troops currently provide security at the state's two nuclear facilities, Fort Dix, Ft Monmouth, Picatinny Arsenal, McGuire Air Force Base, and the Air Guard Base located at the Atlantic City International Airport.

    Additional citizen-soldiers from the Garden State have been deployed or soon will be deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan (Operations Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom), as well as Bosnia and Kosovo (NATO Peacekeeping Mission).