Over 200 Iowa Army National Guard personnel from Iowa City and Mason City will be deployed to Poland as tensions between Russia and Ukraine rise — the deployments aren’t directly related to the conflict, Maj. Katherine Headley, director of Public Affairs for the Iowa National Guard, wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan.

“These deployments have been in the works for some time now and are not related to current events,” Headley wrote.

As a part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence mission, soldiers will be providing transport, equipment, supplies, and field hospital support services. The deployment is expected to happen in summer or fall, Headley said.

“The Iowa National Guard is working on scheduling send-off ceremonies, which will be announced at a later date,” the press release stated.

The Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau tasked two Iowa-based companies, 1133rd Transportation Company of Mason City and the 209th Medical Company Area Support of Iowa City, to send about 250 Iowa soldiers to Poland, the release said.

Maj. Gen. Ben Corell, Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard, announced the mobilization during the Condition of the Guard address in January, the release said.

“Atlantic Resolve is part of the Deterrence Initiative focused in Eastern Europe. This enables the U.S. to provide deterrence to adversaries while supporting our NATO partners,” Correll said during the address.

As of right now, the 250 specific soldiers haven’t been selected for the mission, but they will be announced at the sendoff ceremonies this summer or fall.

Before the upcoming deployment, missions led the 209th unit to Iraq in 2003, New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and its most recent mission in 2020 aiding COVID-19 response efforts throughout Iowa.