40 New York National Guard Soldiers from Syracuse-based unit deploy to Korea today for command post exercise

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U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Brannon Niesent, III Marine Expeditionary Force, works with Republic of Korea Marine Capt. Jae Eun Lee, during Exercise Key Resolve in March 2015.

SYRACUSE, NY (03/06/2017) (readMedia)-- Forty Soldiers from the New York Army National Guard's 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which is headquartered in Syracuse and has units across New York, are heading for South Korea to participate in a joint U.S. and South Korean military command post exercise.

The Soldiers left New York today.

Known as Key Resolve, the annual event is a computerized exercise which begins March 6 and supports the defense of South Korea. Key Resolve rehearses the deployment, reception, staging and integration of military troops deployed from the United States to support the Republic of Korea in the event of a war.

The officers and noncommissioned officers will carry out the same kind of command functions they would be required to conduct during an actual mission involving the 3,500 Army National Guard Soldiers based across New York who are part of the brigade.

Twenty-six officers and noncommissioned officers will represent a brigade headquarters of the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division during the exercise.

Fourteen officers and noncommissioned officers from the brigade's seven battalions will "play" battalion headquarters during the computer command post exercise.

In 2016 the brigade's headquarters staff were responsible for directing almost 4,500 Army National Guard, Army Reserve and Active Army Soldiers during a three-week field exercise at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Key Resolve is held in conjunction with exercise Foal Eagle, which involves the actual movement of American and South Korean forces.

Key Resolve has been an annual training exercise between the two nations since 2008.

New for the training this year will be the leadership of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The Korean JCS will lead the combined military exercise.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff will be responsible for exercise planning and control, operation of opposing forces, and after-action reviews. The Korean forces headquarters will operate from a command center within South Korea's Capital Defense Command.

New York National Guard deployments to the Pacific Command area of operations for 27th Infantry Brigade Soldiers included exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand and Orient Shield in Japan in 2009.

This summer, other New York Soldiers assigned to the 27th Infantry Brigade's 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry will support a joint Australian/U.S. training exercise called Talisman Saber in Australia.

The New York Soldiers are expected to redeploy home from after the Key Resolve exercise on March 18.