Indiana National Guard unit heading to Afghanistan

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana National Guard unit is preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan where its members will help train local soldiers.

The 70 soldiers from the Indianapolis-based 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team are scheduled to leave in February for southern Afghanistan. The Guard says they will work with Australian soldiers in training Afghan troops for security and reconstruction efforts.

Guard unit commander Col. Gerald Hadley tells The Indianapolis Star that he helped train 1,400 Afghan soldiers in 2004-05 and expects to see some of those same soldiers again.

The Indiana Guard’s entire 3,500-member 76th brigade was deployed to Iraq in 2008. All of the unit’s troops are out of Iraq and none of those being deployed is among the recently returned.