Guard unit returning to Vermont after training

BENNINGTON -- Members of the Vermont National Guard are returning to Vermont after training in Louisiana.

Lt. Col. Lloyd Goodrow, spokesman for the Vermont National Guard, said Wednesday that the 1,500 or so guardsmen and women have completed training at Fort Polk in Louisiana. The training is meant to aid them during a year-long deployment to Afghanistan set for next month and early next year.

The troops will be part of Task Force Phoenix and will train and mentor Afghan security forces.

Goodrow said the troops will be arriving in Vermont over the next five days in six separate flights at the Burlington International Airport. They will then board buses and travel to their respective armories around the state. The soldiers will begin deploying to Camp Atterbury in Indiana in early December and early January. They will depart for Afghanistan from there.

-- Neal P. Goswami