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Guardsmen finish training for deployment |
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Sunday, 07 June 2009 |
By BRIAN HAWKINS
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Weeks of training and preparation will finally be put to use as the more than 3,500 soldiers of the Mississippi National Guard’s 155th Brigade Combat Team deploy to Iraq over the next few weeks.
The soldiers — including the Starkville-based 2nd-114th Strike Battalion — have been at Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg since May 1 training for the 155th’s second year-long deployment to Iraq.
After a “farewell pass and review” ceremony on the Camp Shelby parade grounds Tuesday morning, the Guardsmen will have four days of leave to be with their friends and family before reporting back this coming Saturday to begin leaving for Iraq, said Lt. Col. James Sisson, commander of the 2nd-114th.
The soldiers will travel first to Kuwait for a few days of additional training before moving “into our assignment area, which will be in northern Iraq,” said Sisson in a telephone interview Saturday afternoon. Due to operational security precautions, Sisson said he cannot yet reveal the exact location in Iraq where the soldiers are headed.
“We’re going to leave for Kuwait and have everybody over there by the end of this month,” said Sisson.
The troops’ training schedule has been particularly intense over the past several days, Sisson said.
A typical day has seen the soldiers up at 5 a.m. for physical fitness training, followed by grooming and breakfast, Sisson said. The troops would then “move into the training day, which lasts anywhere from 10 to 12 hours a day,” Sisson said.
“Some times it’s less, some times it’s more,” Sisson said. “When they get through with one day, they’re planning for the next day so everything goes smoothly.”
To prepare for their mission, the troops have been conducting convoy security patrols and base defense and support operation scenarios, Sisson said.
“We’ve been giving them training missions and letting them run with it. It’s been hectic up until yesterday,” said Sisson on Saturday. “We’re at the point of finalization for deployment. Today, we’ve been the process of clearing up any medical and administrative issues. We’re at the point of finalization for the deployment.”
The troop morale has been solid, Sisson said.
“It’s better than we ever thought it would be considering the training circumstances we’ve been under,” Sisson said. “We’ve validated the battalion to be deployment ready in less than 40 days.”
Heading to the Middle East
The weather at Camp Shelby has been fairly nice during the training, which could present a bit of shock once the soldiers arrive in Kuwait, Sisson said. The weather there has seen consistently sunny days and regular 110-degree temperatures, he said.
“It will take a significant toll on us physically when we get there because it hasn’t been nearly as hot here,” Sisson said. “It will be very important to make sure the men stay hydrated throughout the day.”
One thing that has been beneficial during the soldiers’ training is that they have been able to consult with members of the National Guard unit they’ll be replacing in Iraq, Sisson said.
“We’ve had opportunities to meet with our counterparts we’re replacing for a couple of weeks and learn how they’ve been operating,” said Sisson. “That’s been a big, big plus for us because we’ve been able take a lot of the ‘what ifs’ out of the situation. These guys now know as much as they need to know going into country. They’re not going into this blind.”
The change in political climate and the increasing stability of Iraq will also be beneficial to the soldiers, Sisson said.
“The mission is much different than the first time they went over in 2005. The environment in Iraq has gotten so much better. The thing they will be doing the most at the company level is the convoy security patrols,” Sisson said.
“As far as going into towns and looking for bad guys, that shouldn’t be happening. It should not be nearly as bad for them as the first time. The Iraqi forces are stronger, and we’re there to provide support to them so, hopefully, at some point, we’ll be able to leave it with them.”
Looking ahead to departure
At Tuesday’s farewell pass and review ceremony — which is set for 9 a.m. — Gov. Haley Barbour; Maj. Gen. William Freeman, the adjutant general of Mississippi; and Col William Glasgow, the 155th’s commander, will speak as all six battalions of the brigade line up in formation on the Camp Shelby parade grounds.
After their few days of leave and return to Camp Shelby on Saturday, one of the more difficult parts of the deployment will be over, said Sisson.
“Once you get through this part — the training — that’s the tough part,” he said. “Being at Camp Shelby is the hard part. They make it hard on you to make sure you are prepared to conduct the necessary operations when you deploy overseas.”
Sisson stressed the importance of across-the-board community support for the soldiers’ families during the deployment.
“To the communities our soldiers come from, we want to thank them for the service of their soldiers,” Sisson said. “All we can ask is that they take care of the families while our soldiers are gone, and we’ll be back home in a year or so.”
Editor’s note: A story about how local business leaders can support the National Guardsmen will be published in Monday’s edition of the Starkville Daily News.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 08 June 2009 )
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