Bonners Ferry Local Guide including all of Boundary County Idaho

General says Idaho Guard unlikely to return, for now

Thursday, January 11, 2007; IDST

Gov. Butch Otter has a message for President Bush: Don't send the Idaho National Guard to Iraq again. Brig. Gen. Alan Gayhart, who led Idaho's 116th Combat Team in Iraq, said it's unlikely his soldiers would be deployed soon. The 116th is undergoing an Army-directed change of mission and equipment. "We could not do that (go back to Iraq) without receiving major items of equipment and significant training," Gayhart said after Bush's speech Wednesday night. "There are significant numbers of brigades that would go before the 116th would go." But Gayhart said it is possible the 116th could still be called. Bush called for a surge of 21,500 troops as part of the war strategy to turn security over to the Iraqi military by November. - Full Story