Nearly 300 soldiers with a Chattanooga-based brigade are saying their good-byes to family and friends as they head today to Texas, their last stop before a yearlong Iraq deployment.
Many of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 230th Sustainment Brigade have deployed before to Iraq, some with the 181st Field Artillery Battalion in 2008, a few with the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment last year.
The soldiers’ farewell ceremony took place this morning at the Chattanooga Armory on Holtzclaw Avenue. From there the troops will board buses to Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport to fly to Fort Bliss, Texas.
There, soldiers will be evaluated on phases of their pre-deployment training in a larger exercise before leaving for Iraq, said Col. Mark Hart, brigade commander.
The unit’s scheduled mission is to support closing or transfer of U.S. operating bases to Iraqi army and police units in the southern half of Iraq.