The Pentagon alerted five more Army National Guard brigade combat teams (BCTs) last month for overseas missions beginning in the summer of 2009.

Brigades included in the Dec. 3 announcement will replace units that have not yet deployed.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters the units were being identified well in advance to give maximum time possible for missionspecific training.

"It's a tribute to the military planners who are trying to provide-particularly for our National Guard brigades-the type of timely notification so they can be prepared for the specific missions, but also to give the predictability for their families and employers," Whitman said.

This announcement came just six weeks after the Defense Department alerted eight Army Guard brigades for deployment. And it brought to 19 the number of Guard brigades alerted for deployment.

In October, more than 21,000 soldiers from eight brigades were told to prepare for overseas deployments that will begin next summer and continue into early 2009.

They are from Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

BCTs from Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma were alerted in April. They mobilized last month. BCTs from Maryland and Virginia received their inirial notification early last year. Both are currently supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The latest alen has roughly 7,000 Army Guard soldiers now planning to go to Afghanistan. They are all members of the Florida Army Guard's 53rd BCT which will conduct full spectrum operations, and Georgia's 48th BCT which will train the Afghan national security forces.

Wisconsin's 32nd BCT, Oregon's 41st BCT and Mississippi's 155th BCT have been alerted for deployment to Iraq in summer 2009.

All of the units are expected to serve 12 months. This includes post-mobilization training and time deployed overseas.

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