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.