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May 27, 2008


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NEWS

McKenzie, Huntingdon Guard Units Alerted to Possible Deployment

The United States Department of Defense (DOD) on May 19 issued a press release alerting the McKenzie- and Huntingdon-based 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Brigade Combat Team) and three other brigades of the Army National Guard in regard to their possible deployment to Iraq as soon as next spring.

The 4,000-member 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment likely will head to Iraq to provide security for convoys and base camps, according to Randy Harris, director of the Joint Public Affairs office of the Tennessee National Guard.

The unit includes approximately 1,000 Guardsmen from the squadrons in rural West Tennessee. A squadron based in Henderson includes troops from Huntingdon, McKenzie, Milan, Humboldt, Parsons, Selmer and Waynesboro.

The Department of Defense announced that deployments for a 12-month tour of duty in Iraq and Kuwait will begin in the spring for 14,000 soldiers from four National Guard units, including the 278th. The other brigades are from Texas, Pennsylvania and Louisiana.

The 278th might not be with the initial deployment, according to Harris. The 278th is still scheduled for possible deployment in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, falling under the DoD model for deployment of one in five years for National Guard units.

The 278th last deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III in November of 2004.

The federal Fiscal Year 2010 begins in October 2009. The soldiers will mobilize under the current DOD guidelines of a 12-month mobilization to include training prior to the mobilization.

During an interview regarding the 278th’s possible deployment, Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett, Tennessee’s Adjutant General said, “We are confident that the 278th will not deploy until FY2010.”

He added, “The soldiers of the 278th are trained and ready professionals who will represent the Volunteer State in the same outstanding tradition as generations of Tennesseans before them.”

More than 12,500 soldiers and air-men of the Tennessee National Guard have deployed since September 11, 2001. Currently more than 1,000 Tennessee Guard members are deployed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

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May 27, 2008