Approximately 150 Soldiers from the 3654th Support Maintenance Company, 734th Regional Support Group will deploy in support of Operation Spartan Shield in the U.S. Central Command area of operations. This unit is headquartered in Knoxville, with a detachment based in Oskaloosa.

A modified community sendoff ceremony will be held at Camp Dodge in Johnston Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The ceremony is not open to the public due to COVID-19 safety measures, but will be livestreamed on the Iowa National Guard Facebook page.

This group most recently mobilized to Cedar Rapids in 2016 to assist county and state emergency management departments in flood mitigation efforts. The unit was last activated into federal service in March 2003 in support of the global war on terrorism.

Soldiers of the 3654th SMC will travel to their mobilization station in Fort Hood, Texas to complete final training and readiness checks before deploying overseas. The deployment is expected to last approximately one year.