October 12, 2005
Two Smyrna units have been in Iraq since October 2004
By DAN WHITTLE
SMYRNA — Military families say they're counting "the hours" until soldiers with the Tennessee Army Guard's 278th Regimental Combat Team return to U.S. soil.
Approximately 70 members of Blackhawk Troop T and Troop N units are scheduled to arrive at Fort Bragg, N.C., from Iraq this weekend, according to military sources.
"We don't know how long it will be before they arrive back at their Smyrna Airport base," said Tennessee National Guard spokesman Sgt. Randy Harris of Nashville.
Smyrna spouse Dorothy Russell, wife of Blackhawk Crew Chief Staff Sgt. Mike Russell, 35, whose Troop T unit has been in Iraq since Oct. 1, 2004, is among those anticipating the arrival.
"We're counting the hours now ... so excited," Russell said.
Troop T, comprised of Blackhawk pilots and flight crews, was activated in August 2004, followed within a few days by the deployment of Troop N, comprised of flight maintenance technicians.
Russell is a crew chief and full-time technician, and his unit's duties included transporting troops and equipment as well as government dignitaries, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Dorothy Russell said.
Said Sgt. Harris, "They've performed innumerable flight missions, a lot of which were in and out of Mosul."
While in Iraq, one of the unit's Blackhawks was involved in a dangerous mid-air crash in the desert with an Apache chopper from the North Carolina National Guard.
"Our Tennessee Guard unit lost no soldiers in that mishap, but the two crew members on the Apache perished," Mrs. Russell added. "We've been in prayer for all our soldiers throughout the mission."
Mrs. Russell and her two children, Mary Frances, 17, and Christopher, 6, have missed a man in the house for 14 months since the unit deployed from Smyrna Airport.
"It was a great send-off with lots of people turning out to support our troops," said Mrs. Russell.
She shared some of the problems she and other spouses have experienced on the home front.
"I'm the unit's Family Support Group regional volunteer coordinator," she described. "Some of the spouses have had financial problems, others have experienced anxiety over such things as a broken lawnmower or car breakdown. As for me, I missed my husband most as my 'sounding board' when I talk over and share family issues."
She laughed when asked what she thinks may be the first thing her husband wants to do when he arrives.
"When Mike came home on brief leave, he wanted to go instantly to Taco Bell, and get away from military mess hall food," she shared. "Can you believe it, with all the new great high-end restaurants in our community, he wanted to go to Taco Bell?"
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