The notifications came in advance of an expected announcement from the Pentagon that about 30,000 Guard troops in eight states - including 3,000 in New Jersey - are being alerted for probable federal activation next fall. The New Jersey soldiers learned of the impending alert earlier in the week.
"Some guys aren't too happy; other guys don't really care," said Robert Radswillas, a police officer in West Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County, who already has spent nearly a year in Iraq.
"I think guys are more worried about their families," he said. "I told one guy, and he said, 'Man, my wife is going to flip. I can't tell her this.' "
New policy at the Pentagon is that, in most cases, Guard units won't be activated for much more than a year, including pre-Iraq training in the States. The last time Pennsylvania and New Jersey Guard units of this size were mobilized, in 2004 and 2005, some soldiers spent as long as 18 months on active duty.
Pennsylvania Guard officials confirmed the impending alert of the state's elite Stryker brigade, which is equipped with an advanced-technology Army combat vehicle. But the brigade commander declined comment until official word had come from the Defense Department.
There was no such reticence in New Jersey, where Gov. Corzine criticized the call-up, saying that the "overuse of our National Guard is just a mistake."
In a visit to Fort Dix, Corzine publicly confirmed the alert of six battalions from the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, plus smaller units. This adds up to 3,200 of 6,200 Guard members in the state.
Corzine complained aloud that the deployment could strip New Jersey of help it might need in a natural disaster or other emergency.
