Brown requests summer training in Afghanistan

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

Senator Scott Brown just issued a statement saying he requested his annual summer Massachusetts National Guard service period in Afghanistan.

“As a lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, I have service obligations that I fulfill each year.

"Following in the tradition of other lawmakers who have completed their military service requirements overseas, this year I have requested to conduct my annual training in Afghanistan.

"Doing so will help me to better understand our ongoing mission in that country, and provide me first-hand experience for my duties on the Senate Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs committees," he said.

Brown has been in the Guard since 1979, but he has never been deployed to a war zone. His service this summer will come around the July set by President Obama for beginning to start removing some of the 132,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Typically such training periods last two weeks. It would not be considered a formal activation of his JAG unit.

The statement was issued about 90 minutes after Brown spoke with the Globe about heading to the war zone.

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen.