A unit of about 100 North Dakota National Guard soldiers from Grand Forks arrived in Kuwait last week.

The soldiers of Battery F of the 188th Air Defense Artillery Battalion have officially started their one-year "boots-on-ground" time. They are now awaiting orders to move into Iraq.

The soldiers were mobilized on June 28 and arrived at Fort Bliss, Texas, on July 3. Upon arrival at Fort Bliss, the soldiers trained and validated on tasks such as military operations on urbanized terrain, land navigation, weapons, first-aid, explosive hazards and mounted and dismounted patrolling. They are anticipating performing security and stability operations once they arrive in Iraq.

When the soldiers move into Iraq, the number of North Dakota troops in that country will be in the neighborhood of 580. The 141st Engineer Combat Battalion, with approximately 475 soldiers, has been in Iraq since February. Other deployments of North Dakota soldiers include eight soldiers with Detachment 42 Operational Support Airlift Command in Afghanistan, one judge advocate general in Kosovo and four doctors and one chaplain in Iraq. North Dakota National Guard soldiers also have volunteered to deploy with other states as helicopter pilots and a logistic technician.