ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Army Guard soldiers are being deployed again to the Middle East. A contingent of 550 soldiers from the 34th Infantry Division — the Red Bulls, as they’re known — will leave in February for pre-deployment preparation at Fort Cavazos in the Texas Hill Country, then to Kuwait for 10 months. It’s not the first time that the Red Bulls will have had Mid-East sand on their boots. Major General Shawn Manke, commander of the Minnesota Guard, said it will be the fourth Middle East duty for 10% of the 550Guard members, the third for 16 %, and the second for 28%. For four this will be their sixth Middle East deployment.

Fort Cavozos profile

In Texas 70 miles north of Austin near Killeen, population 153,000. Formerly known as Fort Hood, after a Confederate general in the Civil War. Renamed Fort Cavozos in 2023 for a native Texan and the U.S.  Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The fort dates to World War II as a training site for tank warfare on its 214,000 acres. Today the fort accommodates   45,000 soldiers and 8,900 civilian employees.

34th Infantry profile

The 34th Infantry Division has headquarters in the north Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills. The Division provides training and readiness oversight for nine National Guard brigades with 27,000 soldiers across Minnesota and 29 other states.