CAMP RILEY, Minn. – About 1,100 Minnesota National Guard soldiers deployed Sunday to Fort Bliss, Texas, for special training ahead of a nine-month Middle East mission. They will be part of Operation Spartan Shield to deter regional aggression mostly in Syria. The Guard units are based in the Twin Cities and northern Minnesota. Being activated: The 194th Armored Battalion based near Little Falls at Camp Riley with armor and infantry units at Brainerd, Cottage Grove, Crookston, Detroit Lakes, East St. Paul, Sauk Centre and St. Cloud.
Texas-bound train. Tracked vehicles being loaded on railroad flat cars at Camp Ripley as part of the Spartan Shield mission to Fort Bliss and then to Syria.