MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS NEWS RELEASE
RELEASE: IMMEDIATE (1 February 1999)		FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: LTC John Dwyer, Public Affairs Officer 101 EGGERT CROSSING ROAD LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ 08648 609-530-6939

The New Jersey National Guard currently has the following operations underway:

The 108^th Air Refueling Wing (ARW) of the New Jersey Air National Guard will be redeploying from Incerlik Airbase in Turkey this week where they were refueling fighters enforcing the no-fly zone over Northern Iraq. The 108^th provided all of the in-flight refueling for US and NATO planes in the no-fly operation. The unit has over 100 aircrew and ground personnel as well as six KC-135 tankers in Turkey. The 108^th ARW is based at McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County, New Jersey.

New Jersey Army National Guard soldiers are preparing for overseas deployment in three foreign nations. The 444^th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, based at Fort Dix, is preparing for a nine-month tour in Germany support of continuing operations in Bosnia-Hertzogovenia. They will deploy on 11 March to Heidelberg, Germany with missions extending all over Europe. Company B, 250^th Forward Support Battalion from Bordentown is preparing to send soldiers to Vincenza, Italy this month to repair US and NATO ground equipment. This maintenance unit will conduct a two annual training periods from mid-February through mid-March in Italy. Honduras will be getting New Jersey medics from March until June to help with relief efforts and provide deployed US personnel with medical support. Company F, 50^th Main Support Battalion from Jersey City will be sending medical teams to Honduras in two-week rotations from March 13 through June 6. Some 75 medics will be sent to Central America by the end of the operation.

The New Jersey National Guard continues to provide relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Mitch. Last week over 3000 boxes bound for Central America were picked up by Guard trucks from Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick and transported to Jersey City where they are awaiting shipment to Honduras and Nicaragua. Company B, 50^th Main Support Battalion has trucked over 500 tons of supplies since the relief effort for Hurricane Mitch started in November.

Questions regarding any of these operations should be addressed to Lieutenant Colonel John Dwyer, Public Affairs Officer for the NJ Department of Military and Veterans Affairs at 609-530-6939.