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Send off for National Guard was held Tuesday Melodie Phelps News Editor Though the official community send-off for members of Battery C, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery was held Tuesday evening, the members of the local National Guard Unit will actually depart on Saturday, November 20, according to information provided by David Altom, a spokesman for the public relations department of the Kentucky Army National Guard. The local unit will head to Fort Dix, New Jersey for several weeks of training before deployment for the Persian Gulf. A precise time for the departure has not yet been determined. The Family Support Group for Battery C is currently raising funds to bring members of the local unit home over the Christmas holidays. The unit will still be stateside during the holidays and they will get a 10-day leave, but they must provide their own transportation. Sharon Calahan, with the Family Support Group, said they hope to charter a bus to bring the Guard members back home for Christmas, but it is very expensive. T-shirt and support ribbon sales have helped raise some money to offset the costs. Calahan said t-shirts are still available, as well as some of the ribbons and they may be purchased either by stopping by the Armory or contacting her, Nikki Criswell or Kara Lester. Anyone who would like to donate to this account may do so at any Monticello Banking Company location. Members of the Family Support Group have been pleased with the response from the community, through their fundraising efforts as well as the Adopt-A-Solider program. Through Adopt-A-Solider, groups or organizations are assigned a member of the guard unit to write letters and send cards and small care packages to. Calahan said there are approximately 26 members of Battery C who have not been adopted yet. For more information on this program, contact Robin Simpson at 340-2431. Similar activities are going on in communities across the state as another unit of the 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery is mobilized. Battery B, which is headquartered in Campbells-ville, will depart for Fort Dix on Saturday also, according to Altom. A departure ceremony was planned for Battery B on Wednesday, November 17 in Campbellsville. There are a total of 182 soldiers in Battery B and Battery C. Headquarters Battery, in Glasgow, and Battery A, in Tompkinsville, were mobilized more than a week ago. With this mobilization there are currently more than 1,100 Kentucky National Guard soldiers and airmen mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle, or participating in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. More than 5,000 Kentucky Guard troops have been mobilized since September 11. Add a comment |
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