Colo. Guard medical unit headed to Afghanistan

By The AP
Monday, January 3, 2011

MONTROSE — Members of a medical unit in the Colorado National Guard will be spending the new year in Afghanistan.

The 928th Area Support Medical Company is based in both Denver and Montrose and its approximately 80 members include medical professionals, educators, police officers, construction workers and college students.

Members from the Montrose area are set to leave home today and the Montrose Daily Press reports that residents there plan a parade and fly over to send them off.

A departure ceremony is also planned Tuesday at Fort Carson.

Members will first head to Fort Lewis, Wash. for language and cultural training before deploying to Afghanistan for a year.

The unit previously served in Iraq and returned home in early 2004.