GRAND FORKS (AP) -- The number of North Dakota National Guard soldiers and airmen deployed overseas is at its lowest level since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Guard commander Dave Sprynczynatyk (sprin-suh-NAT'-ik) tells the Grand Forks Herald that only about a dozen personnel are deployed outside the state.
Since 9/11, the North Dakota Guard often has had hundreds of soldiers deployed, sometimes for more than a year in Iraq and Afghanistan. Guard spokesman Dan Murphy says more than 3,500 soldiers in the state Army Guard and 1,800 airmen in the Air Guard have served in the war on terror.
Three units that have a total of about 250 members were put on alert last fall, meaning they are likely to be mobilized.
