Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing Among Minnesota, Wisconsin Guard Deployed to Middle East

The Minnesota National Guard confirmed more than 250 of its airmen and soldiers are currently serving in and around the Middle East, and the deployment roster includes members from Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing, state public affairs identified. Families in Duluth and other unit communities are tracking the deployments with mounting concern as regional tensions rise.

Minnesota units specifically named in public statements and local reporting include Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing, the Marshall-based 1-151 Field Artillery, and the Stillwater-based 34th Military Police Company. Army Maj. Andrea Tsuchiya, the Minnesota National Guard state public affairs officer, is cited by multiple outlets as confirming the unit names and the overall personnel figure.

Defense leaders at a Pentagon briefing on Monday morning said Wisconsin Army National Guard members are operating in Kuwait and Iraq, a detail that links Guard activity across state lines to operations in the U.S. Central Command theater. The Pentagon briefing did not identify Wisconsin unit names or home communities in the remarks released to press.

The Minnesota National Guard framed the deployments as regularly scheduled rotations to the CENTCOM area of responsibility, which covers 21 countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Yemen. Local reporting and public affairs materials note these rotations now occur amid heightened activity tied to recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliatory attacks.

Public messaging from the Minnesota Guard emphasized family support and community backing. “While their missions and duty locations vary, all are grateful for the strong support of those back home,” the Guard spokesperson said in the statement attributed to Maj. Andrea Tsuchiya. At the same time, Fox9 reported that “The guard did not disclose the exact bases or countries where the soldiers and airmen are serving,” leaving unit-level locations and host bases undisclosed.

Local media coverage has offered differing numeric phrasing: one outlet reported “Over 200 Minnesota service members are currently deployed in the Middle East and the surrounding areas,” while multiple state and regional outlets use the more specific “more than 250” figure provided by the Guard. No outlet supplied a public breakdown of how many personnel are attached to each named unit.

Community support structures around the named units are preparing to respond. Reporting from Hoodline and other local outlets says family readiness networks in Duluth, Marshall and Stillwater are preparing to field calls and that local elected officials have urged residents to rely on official briefings rather than speculation on social media.

Significant details remain undisclosed: the Guard has not released exact duty locations, unit-level counts by home station, deployment start or expected return dates, or whether any of the named members are directly attached to operations linked to the recent strikes. The Pentagon briefing confirmed Wisconsin presence in Kuwait and Iraq but did not name Wisconsin units. Those unanswered questions stand as the next items for public affairs clarification from the Minnesota and Wisconsin National Guard and Pentagon public affairs.