278th may deploy to Afghanistan in spring

NASHVILLE -- The commander of the Tennessee National Guard's largest unit said its next deployment could be to Afghanistan, where military leaders have said they want to send more troops.

The 278th is based in Knoxville and includes Shelbyville's Company G, Forward Support Company, Regimental Support Squadron.

Col. Jeff Holmes, commander of the 278th Armored Calvary Regiment, said in an interview with The Associated Press there's a good chance the unit will be headed there, instead of Iraq, beginning next spring.

However, Holmes said he has not been given any official notice from the National Guard and the unit hasn't yet received mobilization orders since being put on alert in May for a possible deployment. But as the nearly 4,000 soldiers start training over the next four to five months, Holmes said he's expecting a different experience than their last deployment.

"At some point, that will become more critical in identifying where we will be deployed because then we will have to start focusing on the training specific to that theater," Holmes said.

The 278th, a heavily armored unit that includes infantry, artillery, reconnaissance and surveillance assets, first deployed in 2004 to Iraq. Its primary mission was conducting counterinsurgency operations in the Diyala and Salah Ad Din provinces northeast of Baghdad and securing the border with Iran.

"Afghanistan would be open, less urban," Holmes said.

Although many of the soldiers have experience with working with Iraqis from the previous deployment, Holmes said the soldiers would also go through different cultural training if sent to Afghanistan.

"We would zero in on what area we would be assigned so we can become familiar with the customs, tribes and language," he said.

If they return to Iraq, Holmes said he expects to see progress after helping to secure polling sites and ballots for Iraq's two elections in 2005. He said the troop surge has also given the Iraqi security forces time to train and prepare for an eventual drawdown in U.S. troops.

"It's been three years since the elections," Holmes said. "I think we will see that the local governments and the city council and the provincial government will have become more efficient. You can't help to think they would have learned to operate in that type of government, whereas before it was all so new to them."

Holmes said much of their training will be in the state at regional training sites, but the entire regiment will rotate into Camp Shelby, Miss., over the next four weeks for training on new Bradley fighting vehicles and tanks.

The unit left Humvees, trucks, tanks, bulldozers and other equipment in Iraq. Holmes said the Guard units have been receiving the latest equipment and reconditioned vehicles and will be fully equipped in the next four weeks.