Army National Guard 1st Sgt. Ole M. Olson has been mobilized and activated at Joint Base Dix-McGuire-Lakehurst, N.J., in preparation for deployment to serve in support of either Operation New Dawn in the Iraqi Theater of Operations or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the Southwest Theater of Operations. The soldier is a member of the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan, based out of Moorhead.

The soldiers are normally activated from Army Reserve or Army National Guard units from throughout the U.S. They go through a series of in-processing procedures and training classes that prepare them for skills and situations they may face in their deployed environment.

Olson will be serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The soldier is a company first sergeant and has served in the military for 38 years.

He is the brother of Karen M. Goette of 280th St., Albert Lea, and Jeffery M. Olson of Woodbury.

His wife, Aimee, is the daughter of Norlen Stahlheim, and Betty Stahlheim, both of Albert Lea.

In 1973, Olson graduated from Albert Lea High School, and received an associate degree in 1980 from the University of Minnesota, Waseca.