More than 300 military members in North Dakota are deployed to various locations around the world.
That doesn't count the many North Dakotans serving with military units in other states who are globally deployed.
Today is Day of the Deployed. A ceremony to honor deployed service members and their families will be held at 9 a.m. at Bismarck State College's National Energy Center of Excellence, Room 335. The U.S. Senate recently passed a resolution introduced by Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., to honor the nation's deployed service members and designate Oct. 26, 2012, as the Day of the Deployed.
More than 100 airmen from Minot Air Force Base are deployed to 12 different countries, including Afghanistan, said Tech. Sgt. Mark Bell, superintendent/ noncommissioned officer in charge of broadcast operations for the base's Public Affairs Office.
More than 200 members of the base's 69th Bomb Squadron, including from the 5th Maintenance Group, recently returned from a deployment to Guam.
About 100 Air Force personnel are deployed from Grand Forks AFB, said Tim Flack, chief of Public Affairs for the 319th Air Base Wing at the Grand Forks base.
He said they are deployed to various locations worldwide including Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, along with other locations in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility.
Following are the current deployment numbers for the North Dakota National Guard, provided by Guard officials:
More than 100 N.D. National Guard soldiers and airmen currently are deployed overseas.
Deployed: 818th Engineer Company (Sapper) in Afghanistan. Approximately 100 soldiers. Send-off held April 29.
Alerted approximately 30 soldiers with 191st Military Police Company for duty in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Sendoff is Saturday in Fargo.
Alerted 4 soldiers with the 1919th Contingency Contracting Team for Afghanistan and Qatar. Send-off Nov. 3.
Alerted 8 soldiers with Detachment 42 Operational Support Airlift for duty in Afghanistan.
N.D. Air National Guard 119th Wing approximately six deployed to various locations across the globe.
Miscellaneous
1-112th Aviation Battalion (Security & Support), 55 soldiers. Returned Sept. 7 (KFOR 15). Freedom Salute to be held Jan 13, 2013.
188th Engineer Company (Vertical), 160 soldiers, Kuwait. Returned to N.D. Aug. 17. Freedom Salute held Oct 7.
119th Civil Engineer Support Squadron, 60 airmen. Returned to N.D. in June after 6-month Southwest Asia tour.
Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on America, the N.D. National Guard has mobilized nearly 3,900 soldiers and more than 1,800 airmen in support of the global war on terrorism. About 70 percent of all members serving today have joined since that time. Currently, nearly 200 N.D. Guardsmen are serving overseas while more than 4,000 remain in the state for emergency response and national defense. For every 10,000 citizens in North Dakota, 65 serve in the N.D. National Guard, a rate that's more than four times the national average.