Staff photo by Jake Daniels/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Spc. Charles Patterson hugs Kayla Patterson after the 230th Sustainment Brigade's deployment ceremony at the Chattanooga Armory on Saturday morning.Red cheeks and tears marked the faces of wives, children and parents Saturday as their soldiers boarded buses in a step toward deployment to Iraq.
Nearly 300 soldiers of the Tennessee Army National Guard's 230th Sustainment Brigade left Saturday for Fort Bliss, Texas, to complete their training. The Iraq deployment could last a year, officials said.
Shortly before boarding the bus, Sgt. Paul Spilko held his 3-year-old son, Harrison, on his knee as the boy chomped a sandwich.
"Goodbyes are the hardest part," said Spilko, 35. "The last couple weeks [I've] just been spending a lot of time with the little guy."
Spilko also served in Iraq with the 181st Field Artillery Regiment out of Chattanooga from 2007 to 2008.
"I pretty much missed the whole first year of his life, and that was tough. ... Now I'm going to have to miss another one," he said. "It's hard, you know; you miss all of the birthdays and stuff, but when you're home, you just have to make up for it."
The Chattanooga-based brigade will be more than 1,500 soldiers strong, pulling from units across Tennessee for its historic mission. The soldiers will help close or transfer U.S. bases in southern Iraq to Iraqi Army or police units. It's part of the troop drawdown begun last year.
Brigade commander Col. Mark Hart said this is the first time the U.S. Army has performed this type of mission.
"It's time. We've done what we can do; it's time to get out," Hart said. "Tennessee was there on the front end of it, and we're going to be there to close it out."
Unit leaders estimate that 60 percent of the soldiers had deployed at least once before, most to Iraq.
Pfc. Ian Lovelace, 21, of Memphis, admitted he's anxious about his first deployment, saying he is "ready to come back but excited to go see what it's like."
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student's aunt, Angela Taylor, lives here and came to see him off.
"I'm excited because he's grown up, but a little sad, too," she said. "I was there when he was born, so it's a little hard."
Chattanooga resident Nada Hyde, mother of Staff Sgt. Michael Shawn Taylor, took comfort in prayer.
She held a sign referring to a scripture passage calling for God's angels to protect her son and his fellow soldiers.
"It's hardest when they leave out because you know we miss them so much," Hyde said.
After prayer led by the unit chaplain, Hart prepared the troops for a different kind of challenge that will creep upon them when they least expect it -- loneliness.
"No matter who you are or what you're doing at times it gets very lonely being away from home in a foreign land," he told the troops.
Following his remarks, the colonel elaborated in a brief interview.
"I just want all of the soldiers to know that loneliness is something that's natural, and it can be dealt with in a safe and respectful manner," he said.
ABOUT THE BRIGADEThe Tennessee Army National Guard's 230th Sustainment Brigade headquarters is in Chattanooga at the Holtzclaw Avenue armory. The unit was formed in 2005 to replace the 196th Field Artillery Brigade, which formally disbanded in 2008.Source: Tennessee Army National Guard
Pointing to three Tennessee Guard suicides in the last 45 days, Hart said desperate feelings are "something we need to address openly and make people feel like they can talk about."
Later Saturday afternoon at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Holiday Inn, soldiers with some previously deployed Guard units were welcomed home with plaques and flags.
Some of the soldiers scheduled to be honored for recent deployments were at the airport leaving with the 230th.
Contact staff writer Todd South at tsouth@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347.