Thirty-four National Guard members will leave the O'Neill Armory at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, in the first stage in mobilizing for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Included are eight from the Atkinson area; five from the O'Neill area, which includes one from Page and one from Inman; one from the Bassett area and one from the Stuart area.

The Atkinson Lions Club will fly flags Tuesday for the send-off.

The send off is being orchestrated by the Chambers of Commerce in Atkinson and O' Neill, and by the Family Readiness Group made ::p of families and friends in support of the troops.

Troops are scheduled to arrive at the O' Neill National Guard Armory at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday; where they will be provided with a hot meal for soldiers and their families:

The soldiers will get on a bus in O'Neill about 10 a.m. Tuesday and leave for Camp Ashland, where they will join with troops from other areas.

On Sept 5. approximately 140 soldiers will leave Lincoln by air and fly to Camp Shelby, MS, for training prior to leaving for overseas.

The mission was first announced

in a news release sent out by the Nebraska National Guard April 28.

Here's what it said.

LINCOLN, Neb.-The Nebraska Army National Guard's 755th Chemical Reconnaissance/Decontamination Company will be mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in late August, Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke, adjutant general for Nebraska announced today.

The 755th is located in O'Neill but the unit will be augmented by soldiers from other chemical units in Omaha, Nebraska City, Seward, and Falls City, and by soldiers from other National Guard units across the state.

Approximately 175 soldiers will make up the enlarged company, which is commanded by 1 st` Lieutenant Vincent Dvorak of Sioux City, Iowa.

Normally the mission of the chemical unit is locating suspected chemical or biological contamination and decontaminating contaminated personnel or equipment.

However the unit will be converted to a security force for this deployment.

The unit has already undergone extensive security training and will receive additional training at Camp Shelby, Miss., before deploying.

Following that training, the unit will report to the Central Command area of responsibility for approximately one year.

The unit's ultimate destination will not be released until after it has arrived.

There will be a State 'Send-Off' Ceremony September 6 at the Lancaster Event Center, 4100 N. 84th Street in Lincoln.

Following the ceremony, families will have 1/2 hour to say "good-byes" before the soldiers load on the bus.

A send-off ceremony will be held for the unit prior to its departure. Details will follow at a later date.

There are approximately 800 Nebraska Army National Guard Soldiers currently deployed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

That number is about 23 percent of the Army National Guard force in the state.

More than 75 percent of the force remains available for homeland defense or other emergency response duties.