MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Fighting in foreign lands is nothing new for the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, but the brigade might be in its best shape ever to handle a massive deployment to Iraq next year, guard commanders said Wednesday.,”By TODD RICHMOND

MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Fighting in foreign lands is nothing new for the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, but the brigade might be in its best shape ever to handle a massive deployment to Iraq next year, guard commanders said Wednesday.

More than half of the 3,500 or so soldiers in the brigade are combat veterans and many already have completed tours in Iraq, resulting in better preparation that should help save lives this time around, said Wisconsin Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Mark Anderson.

"We have a lot of operational experience we didn't have before," Anderson said. "It should translate into a much smoother transition … to the theater of combat."

The 32nd Brigade is made up of units in 36 Wisconsin communities. Most of the brigade is made up of part-time soldiers from around Wisconsin, although several dozen soldiers from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan also belong to the unit.

The Wisconsin National Guard announced in September as many as 3,500 soldiers from the 32nd and six other Wisconsin Army National Guard units will head to Iraq next spring for a 10-month tour.

They'll report for duty at local armories in mid-February and spend two months training at Fort Bliss in Texas before heading overseas. Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Tim Donovan has described their mission as "security," but declined to elaborate.

The deployment will be the largest of Wisconsin National Guard forces to a combat zone since World War II.

"What we've got coming up in the next 16 months is a really big deal," Donovan said. "This is a big, big animal."

The 32nd is no stranger to combat. The brigade is descended from the 32nd "Red Arrow" Division, an infantry outfit of Wisconsin and Michigan guardsmen that served in Texas in 1917. The division was called to combat in World War I, fighting in four campaigns. It earned its distinctive arrow-through-a-line insignia for piercing every enemy line it faced, or so the story goes.

The division fought in the south Pacific in World War II and helped occupy Japan, logging 654 days of continuous combat – more than any other U.S. Army division in any war, according to the Wisconsin National Guard.

President John F. Kennedy activated the 32nd during the Berlin crisis in 1961. The unit trained in Washington state before returning to Wisconsin. In 1967 the division was reorganized as the 32nd Separate Infantry Brigade.

Donovan said the brigade has been training intensely in anticipation of a deployment and plans to spend three weeks training in Florida at Camp Blanding in January.

This time out, the brigade has plenty of firsthand experience. Anderson estimated 65 to 70 percent of the Wisconsin Army National Guard has served in a combat zone since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

He didn't have a firm figure on how many soldiers in the 32nd are combat veterans, but estimated it was over half with many now preparing for a second or third trip to Iraq.

That experience has bubbled out of unit commanders during training. Guard spokeswoman Maj. Jackie Guthrie said she watched a commander in the 32nd tell his unit during training at Fort McCoy in August, for example, how to wear their desert packs so they can reach their weapons easier.

That translates to credibility, and, in turn, more confidence in younger soldiers, Anderson said.

"They're listening because they know this soldier is talking from personal experience," he said.

The Wisconsin National Guard will have about 6,000 soldiers and air personnel left in the state after the 32nd and the other units leave, Donovan said.

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