Local guard unit readies for deployment

The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee National Guard, which includes the guard troops based in Shelbyville and Lewisburg, is preparing to return to Camp Shelby, Miss., on the first leg of its scheduled deployment to Iraq in February.

The unit just completed three weeks of annual training at Camp Shelby and will return there on or about Dec. 5. to begin mobilization training. The unit will train for two months at Camp Shelby before its scheduled deployment.

More than 3,300 soldiers from Kingsport in East Tennessee to Henderson in West Tennessee make up the 278th.

"Further updates on the mobilization and deployment will be provided as available," according to a state news release.

Guard members from Shelbyville and Lewisburg were scheduled to enjoy some family time this weekend at a special event to be held at the armory on U.S. 231 south of Shelbyville, according to a member of the Family Readiness Group.