The secretary of Wisconsin's Department of Veterans Affairs has received orders for active duty in Iraq.
John Scocos will leave for Iraq as a colonel in the Army Reserve in late April.
His spokesman says the 51-year-old Scocos will serve in Baghdad and his deployment will last up to one year. He was notified of the presidential call-up in recent days.
His deployment comes as President Bush sends thousands of additional troops to Iraq as part of a plan to try to quell violence in Baghdad.
Scocos has been in the Army for 27 years of active and reserve service, serving in Bosnia in the 1990s.
As secretary, he oversees an agency that administers benefits to some 470,000 veterans in Wisconsin. The agency also operates veterans homes and cemeteries as well as a museum.
AP
