MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Six-hundred members of the Vermont Army National Guard were called up to active duty in foreign countries on Friday, but none will be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Guard said the members of the 86th Brigade were being sent to the so-called Central Command area of operations, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan, “but Iraq unequivocally is not one of the nations that’s been identified,” said 1st Lt. Veronica Saffo, a spokeswoman.

The troops will be going to several different countries, but Saffo said she could not identify them.

“This is a security mission,” she said. “Mainly what they’re going to be doing is providing security at critical infrastructure.” That includes buildings and airports, she said.

About 1,300 soldiers of the 86th Brigade, a tank unit that draws soldiers from armories across the state, have been on alert for a possible mobilization since June. That alert order was extended in August.

Currently there are about 200 Vermont Army National Guard soldiers in Iraq. The soldiers are performing security duties.