RHINELANDER - In a few months a local National Guard unit will mobilize 115 soldiers. But what happens to their jobs while they're off defending the country?

Right now there are 115 soldiers in the 951st Sapper Company based in Rhinelander and Tomahawk. In November the company will head off to training and possible mobilization overseas.



Tonight military officials met some of the people who employ these soldiers to talk about what will happen to their jobs while they're gone and when they return.

Tonight at the Rhinelander Armory representatives from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve were on hand to discuss soldier and employer rights.

Guard officials say they want to make sure that both groups understand their rights during and after the deployment.

Michael Hallquist is a Program Specialist with the ESGR and he says, "We have a law called the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and that specifically identifies that these service members are entitled to their jobs when they return from duty. Basically as if they would've never left."

Commander Brian Barth says, "It's going to allow the employer to see the training dates that the soldiers will be absent from their company and it'll give them a chance to make preparations at their business to prepare for when their soldiers going to be gone."

The unit expects to leave for training in late November. They could be shipped overseas sometime after that.

About half of the 951st soldier's are from the Rhinelander and Tomahawk areas. In 2003 the 951st was deployed to Iraq for 14-months.
But back then they were known as the 724th Engineer Battalion Charlie Company.