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November 9, 2003
Entire 106th Aviation Regiment to Mobilize The Journal Star PEORIA - The entire contingent of the Illinois National Guard's 106th Aviation Regiment has received mobilization orders, a Guard spokeswoman said Saturday. Guard Lt. Col. Alicia Tate-Nadeau said the regiment's 1st battalion, based at Greater Peoria Regional Airport, first received word Thursday they were on alert status, the first step in the mobilization process. "Most of the time, they do go on and are mobilized," and by Saturday that became the case for the entire regiment of about 320 members, she said. Tate-Nadeau said approximately 260 Guard members were included in the initial alert, which required them to get their military records in order, take physicals and complete the final screenings. Now mobilized, the members will get more in-depth briefings on what to expect while on active duty, according to the procedure Tate-Nadeau detailed. Where the regiment may be assigned, however, remained unclear Saturday. Tate-Nadeau was unavailable for comment later in the day on whether some or all of the regiment's members may be assigned to Iraq, where U.S. troops continue to take battle-related casualties. It also could not be determined Saturday how many of the 320 members are residents of central Illinois. The 106th has members stationed in Decatur, Chicago, Iowa and Missouri. The mobilization comes less than a week after one of the unit's helicopters was shot down in Iraq. Last Sunday, a CH-47D Chinook was hit by a heat-seeking missile, killing 16 and wounding 27 others. Three of those killed were from Company F of the 106th The companies put on alert last week fly the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, the kind that was shot down Friday in Iraq, killing six soldiers. Black Hawks are the workhorses of Army Aviation. They serve as flying ambulances, troop carriers, gun ships and cargo haulers, among other duties.
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