As the Albert Lea Tribune and Austin Daily Herald prepare to send a reporter to Kuwait in early November, both newspapers are still looking for story ideas to cover both locally and in the Middle East.

While in Kuwait, reporter Kelli Lageson will report on local soldiers in the Middle Eastern country who are deployed with the Minnesota National Guard.

Some of the ideas already planned are features on the different jobs in the Albert Lea and Austin units, what the soldiers’ living quarters are like, how the soldiers pass their time (working out, watching movies, contacting family back home), what they eat, how the weather affects the soldiers and what they carry for gear.

Both units are part of 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, abbreviated as 2-135. The Albert Lea unit is Delta Company, and the Austin unit is the 1135th Combat Support Company.

Lageson also plans to write profiles of both Albert Lea and Austin soldiers each day she is on the ground and wants to look at how this deployment compares to any others the soldiers might have been on before.

She said while she and other staff members at both newspapers have a lot of stories already planned, she will also cover stories as they come up.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to cover the local Albert Lea and Austin units,” Lageson said. “I’m looking forward to the chance to report while embedded with the soldiers.”

She, along with other reporters back in Albert Lea and Austin, are also looking for families who would be willing to talk about what it is like to be back home while their family member is deployed.

Lageson is slated to leave Minneapolis Nov. 4 and return Nov. 13.

She will arrive in Kuwait City and then be taken by Army officials to Camp Buehring, about an hour and a half away.

“I know it will be an adjustment working over there, but I think it will be fun and definitely worth it,” she said.

The stories and photos, under the title “Deployed in Kuwait,” will be published online and in print. There will also be photo galleries and video footage online.

Lageson will describe her experience from a personal standpoint in her blog called “Kelli in Kuwait” on the Tribune and Herald websites.

 

Got an idea?

People can contact reporter Kelli Lageson at kelli.lageson@albertleatribune.com or 507-402-1979 with story ideas.