The Associated Press

More than 300 Ohio reservists are expected to be involuntarily recalled to active duty and could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan as early as this fall, the Army said Friday.

The former soldiers recently left the Army and are members of the Individual Readiness Reserve.

The Army's Human Resources Command in St. Louis estimated that 327 Ohio reservists will be recalled. The Army is expecting to begin notifying them next week. Their identities were not released.

People in the Individual Ready Reserve are distinct from the National Guard and Reserve because they do not perform regularly scheduled training and are not paid as reservists. They are eligible to be recalled in an emergency because they have not finished their reserve-duty commitment.

The call-up will be done in three increments from July to December.

It is the first large-scale use of former soldiers in the Individual Ready Reserve since 1991. But it is not the first time the Army has dipped into this category of reserves for Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the Army to do so in January.