Jasper HHC 1-151 put on Alert Status yesterday, Afghanistan mission to start in 2012

Members of the Indiana National Guard Jasper HHC 1-151, along with the rest of the battalion units, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta, received an upgrade in their orders yesterday. The unit had received “Notice of Sourcing” orders earlier in the year but this was upgraded to an Alert Status earlier this week.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Eric Derue, the 151’s Commanding Officer, the battalion had thought they might be going back to Iraq-they have served two tours there-but received the orders yesterday stating they would be going to Afghanistan to provide security for Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT). These are joint military teams that are working to repair infrastructure in the embattled country. The battalion will be split among 13 PRT’s in Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Derue expects to receive the mobilization orders for the battalion sometime in January of 2012. The battalion will report to Camp Atterbury near Indianapolis for training sometime in July. After a few months training schedule they will then ship out for Afghanistan.

Rotation has been scheduled on a 12-month basis in the past, but new guidelines will go into effect in January that puts units on a nine-month rotation. The nine-month schedule begins once the battalion’s boots hit the ground in Afghanistan.

The following is a video courtesy of the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System (Dvids) and explains the PRT’s role in Iraq. The PRT’s have a similar mission in Afghanistan.