Carole Shelnutt heard rumors but learned the official news Monday that her husband and 3,400 other soldiers will be home six months earlier than expected.
Mrs. Shelnutt’s husband, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Shelnutt, is a soldier with the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
“We’re going to have the whole family and some friends over, we’re going to smoke some ribs, some brisket and make some homemade chili,” she said.
The unit began sending soldiers to Iraq for an anticipated yearlong mission in February. The entire unit was overseas by March.
“It’s been hard,” Mrs. Shelnutt said.
The couple spoke Sunday and, with the temperature more than 120 degrees in the desert, her husband said all he wanted to do was lie in the pool of their Rossville home.
The mission originally called for troops to be home by December, but, “in order to meet the National Command Authority’s timeline of less than 50,000 combat troops in Iraq after Aug. 31, 2010, soldiers of the 278th have begun leaving their Iraqi bases and heading back to the United States,” Maj. Gen. Max Haston said in a news release.
The 250 soldiers headed back Wednesday are from units in the Maryville, McKenzie and Henderson areas. They will arrive at the Volunteer Training Site at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The rest of the regiment will return in phases over the next two to three months. The soldiers head first to Camp Shelby, Miss., for demobilization, then to Smyrna, Tenn., before meeting family and heading to their homes.
Each unit’s return will be announced by the state office of the Tennessee Army National Guard prior to the homecoming.
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Article: Soldiers with the 278th will begin returning home Wednesday