PORTLAND (AP) — A news report about the planned reassignment of the Maine Army National Guard’s largest unit to Pennsylvania took the governor by surprise.
The Portland Press Herald reported (http://bit.ly/PTneq4 ) that Gov. Paul LePage, commander in chief of the Maine National Guard, called the reporter to ask about the source of the story, then hung up when the reporter declined to divulge the source’s identity.
Under the realignment, the 133rd Engineer Battalion would be relocated to Pennsylvania and in its place Maine would get an infantry unit. A Maine National Guard spokesman said the state would retain 120 engineer-capable soldiers. Currently, the 133rd has 160 soldiers deployed to Afghanistan.
The Maine National Guard scheduled, and then canceled, a news conference Wednesday. All told, the Guard has about 2,100 soldiers in Maine.
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