Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — The soldiers of the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 875th Engineer Battalion have been advised to prepare for a possible mobilization in support of operations overseas.

An official alert order has not been issued, but the National Guard Bureau has said some of the battalion’s 700 soldiers could be mobilized in 2010. The battalion was notified Saturday during the first day of annual training at the Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center near Fort Smith.

The battalion is headquartered in Jonesboro, with subordinate units in Paragould, Marked Tree, Harrisburg and North Little Rock.

Only the units in Jonesboro and Paragould have been named as facing possible mobilization, but the state likely would have to tap into other units to meet the requirements of a mobilization order, according to a news release from the Guard.

The focus of the 875th’s annual training has changed because of the notification. The unit will now receive readiness training to ensure the troops are medically, legally, and administratively prepared for mobilization and have family and employer support.

The training will also include a stronger focus on basic soldier skills: how to shoot, move and communicate.

“We simply cannot sit down and wait to act when, and if, an alert is actually published,” said Maj. Gen. William D. Wofford, adjutant general of the Arkansas National Guard. “Since we are facing a potentially short-fused alert, we are proactively taking steps to prepare the battalion so they will be ready when the time comes.”

The 875th previously deployed overseas in 2006 and spent a year in Iraq, during which the soldiers cleared 1,244 roadside bombs.