Submitted photos/SDN Mississippi National Guard Staff Sgt. Jason Blakely of Mathiston is preparing for a year-long deployment to Afghanistan with the Lucedale-based 2nd-287th Mobile Armored Company. Blakely will be commanding a team of combat medics in support of the 2nd-287th’s reconnaissance mission.

Story by
BRIAN
HAWKINS

Jason Blakely is getting ready to head largely into the unknown. He basically knows where he’s going and what he’ll be doing, but he has few expectations about what he might find.
  Such a scenario is not unfamiliar to Blakely, a Mississippi National Guard staff sergeant, combat medic and married father of two from Mathiston.
He faced a similar uncertainty five years ago when he was deployed to Iraq.
By mid-May, Blakely heads to southern Afghanistan leading a team of five combat medics deploying with the 2nd-287th Mobile Armored Company out of Lucedale.
The Guard unit of between 100 and 120 soldiers will be supporting the Army’s 2nd Engineering Battalion from Fort Hood, Texas, in a year-long deployment.
“We know we’re going into southern Afghanistan, but exactly where we’ll be is something we won’t find out until shortly before or after we deploy,” said Blakely.