An Oklahoma Army National Guard aviation unit is preparing for deployment to Afghanistan.
Family members and guests attended a deployment ceremony Thursday for a unit of the 149th General Support Aviation Battalion. The ceremony was held at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Lexington.
The deployment will involve more than 50 Army National Guard soldiers. While deployed, they will operate the CH-47 ``Chinook'' helicopter and provide transportation for people and cargo in their area of operation.
Once mobilized, the unit will train for up to 12 weeks at Fort Hood, Texas, before heading to Afghanistan this summer. The unit should remain mobilized for no more than a year. A separate aviation unit involved in medevac operations that deployed in November is scheduled to return to Oklahoma this fall.
