An Athens, Tenn.-based National Guard unit has been alerted for possible deployment to either Iraq or Afghanistan, according to a Guard spokesman.

The 117th Military Police Battalion, the Athens National Guard Armory’s headquarters detachment, received the alert order this week, said Tennessee National Guard spokesman Nate Crawford.

The unit’s 240 members have not been told they will definitely deploy, Mr. Crawford said, but they are conducting “administrative and operational checks to make sure the unit’s all ready,” just in case.

“There is not any timeframe yet, and everything is subject to change,” he said. “They have not been ordered to mobilize, but it means they have got the capacity to perform a higher mission, if needed.”

The 117th has subordinate units in Lenoir City and Bristol.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.

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