SKOWHEGAN, Maine - The planned deployment of a Maine National Guard unit to Kuwait next year has been canceled.
The 136th Engineer Company headquartered in Skowhegan had been planning to deploy in the spring of 2016. The 160-member unit was supposed to provide installation upgrades and support the draw-down of American forces in Afghanistan.
Brig. Gen. Gerard Bolduc said Friday that the deployment was canceled because the company is scheduled to transition to an infantry unit around the same time it would have been returning from the mission. He says the cancellation isn't a "complete surprise.''
Bolduc became Maine's National Guard chief this week after Gov. Paul LePage fired Brig. Gen. James Campbell over concerns that the he hadn't been truthful about plans to swap the 133rd Engineer Battalion with an infantry unit.
