The run-up to the 81st Brigade Combat Team’s deployment four years ago was hectic.

The Pentagon gave the Washington National Guard unit about a month to begin full-time training to head to Iraq, and about third of its soldiers was in risk of missing the deployment because of poor health.

It was a unit in need of dental work: About 1,200 soldiers were classified as Class 3 or 4, meaning they couldn’t deploy until their mouths improved. Some required months of treatment.

Training schedules were disrupted because many of those soldiers – many of whom didn’t have insurance – hurried to get their teeth fixed before the 81st left for Iraq.

More time and better coverage have made a huge difference ahead of this month’s deployment, brigade officials said. “We’re way ahead of where we were because we’ve had plenty of time to get Sgt. Joe’s teeth looked at and get them fixed,” Maj. Kurt Shevalier, the brigade’s medical operations officer, said Saturday. “Last time, it was a race against the clock.”

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Russ and I are back at Yakima again today. We’re with the headquarters battery, 2nd Battalion, 146th Field Artillery based in Olympia. We’re putting together a piece about training for convoy security missions – but it won’t run until Monday – and will be bringing other stories throughout the day.