By: BILL JONES/Staff Writer
Source: The Greeneville Sun
11-19-2004

The main body of troops from the Army National Guard’s 278th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) began leaving Camp Shelby, Miss., for Kuwait this morning, a National Guard spokesman said.

Staff Sgt. Russell Klika, the 278th RCT’s public affairs non-commissioned officer in charge, said the last elements of the unit, which includes many National Guardsmen from Greene County, are expected to depart Camp Shelby by Tuesday, Nov. 23.

Staff Sgt. Klika said the 278th’s soldiers will be departing in phases over the next several days.

The 278th RCT, which is built around the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, also includes National Guardsmen from Texas, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Vermont. The unit is expected to spend about two weeks in Kuwait before moving north into Iraq.

Among the 278th’s Tennessee soldiers are those who formerly were assigned to Greeneville-based Troop G of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

They range in age from 20-year-olds such as Jeremy Bonds, of Cedar Creek Road in Greene County, to 58 year-olds such as Larry Henderson, of Greeneville.

The former Troop G soldiers are assigned either to the 278th’s Erwin-based H Company, which is a tank unit, or to the 278th’s Second Squadron Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (HHT) from Kingsport.

They left Greeneville for active duty last June and have spent the last five months in training at Camp Shelby and at Fort Irwin, Calif.

Last week, a 278th RCT officer told a Greeneville Sun reporter that the unit is expected to be assigned to an area of Iraq northeast of Baghdad, Iraq’s capital city.

The 278th RCT soldiers could be required to spend a year, or more, in Iraq and can be kept on active duty for two years.

A deployment ceremony for the unit was held last Thursday, Nov. 11, at Camp Shelby, Miss.

Thousands of friends and family members of 278th RCT soldiers took part in the ceremony, which saw some 4,000 troops march past a reviewing stand.

Speakers during the ceremony included Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen. Also in attendance were U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; several congressmen; 33 members of the Tennessee legislature and local officials, including Greene County Mayor Roger Jones.

Story Copyright to Greeneville Sun