Minn. National Guard deploying 22 soldiers to Afghanistan

Gov. Mark Dayton participated in a deployment ceremony at the Bloomington National Guard Armory Wednesday for 22 Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers leaving for Afghanistan.

Maj. Paul Rickert with the Guard said this will be the first deployment for 20 of the 22 soldiers.

"These soldiers are military intelligence soldiers, so they will provide collection and analyst support to the 45th Brigade Combat Team's military intelligence company," Rickert said. "They are part of The Alpha Company Brigade Special Troops battalion, which is part of the 1st Brigade Combat Team."

The Minnesota National Guard is also preparing for a large deployment of about 2,400 soldiers to Kuwait in May, as part of Operation New Dawn, the U.S. drawdown phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom.