CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS, Pa. (Tribune News Service) — Members of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team are being called up for overseas deployment.

Around 300 soldiers from the Cambridge Springs-based 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry, will depart late this month for eventual deployment to the Horn of Africa region of the African continent, Maj. Cory Johnson of Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s headquarters command said.

Located in the northeastern part of Africa, the Horn of Africa region covers the countries of Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia.

“Anytime a unit is deploying, members have personal things they must take care of beforehand like documentation and medical record updates,” Johnson said. “They’ll do unit training for about two to three weeks before departing (overseas) on a nine-month deployment.”

In the summer of 2022, more than 4,500 members of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team spent a month at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif.

The U.S. Army’s National Training Center, located in the Mojave Desert, provides U.S. military units with realistic pre-deployment training scenarios in all aspects of armed conflict.

The soldiers being called up will be part of about 1,000 members of the 56th Stryker Brigade being deployed, Johnson said.

“They’ll be doing force protection and crisis response in the region,” Johnson said. “They’ll be part of a multi-international task force working with NATO and other partners in the region.”

Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa includes the Kenya Ministry of Defence, African Union Mission in Somalia, European Union Naval Force, Djibouti, Italy, Spain, Japan and France.

kgushard@meadvilletribune.com

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