Saturday send-off set for Fort Mill guardsmen

Soldiers ready for training: Afghanistan likely in 2010

By Andrew Dys - adys@heraldonline.com

FORT MILL -- A public ceremony honoring the 105-member Fort Mill National Guard unit, which is leaving next week for training before eventual deployment, is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Rock Hill American Legion post, according to military officials.

Although the Army has not set any deployment dates or exact locations because of ongoing debate over the level of troops in Afghanistan, the S.C. Army National Guard 1222nd Engineer Company is expected to be sent to that country where casualties are at the highest levels since the war began. The Fort Mill unit specializes in construction and explosive demolitions.

“These soldiers are part of the community, and this is a good chance for people to see them before they go,” said Maj. Coral Dobson, executive officer for the 178th Battalion.

The event will feature speakers including U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C, and Col. Roy McCarty, deputy brigade commander over area guard units. The highly decorated Fort Mill unit was deployed to Iraq in 2003-2004, and many in the unit served in Afghanistan in 2007-2008. The soldiers will train out of state for weeks before heading overseas. Some are already out of the area training.

“Anyone who wants to thank these soldiers for what they have done, and will do, can come out and show them personally,” said Wanda Bennett, who runs the unit's Family Readiness Group (FRG), which assists families during deployments. “It is a chance to let these men and women know that we care about them.”

National Guard soldiers when activated come under the direct command of the Army and must leave families and jobs. The FRG serves families with a food pantry, economic and emotional assistance and other services.

The Fort Mill unit is part of the 178th Engineer Battalion, made up of a headquarters armory in Rock Hill, plus armories in Chester, Clover, Lancaster and Wellford.

Want to go?

Ceremony honoring the 1222nd National Guard unit is 11 a.m. at American Legion Post 34, 199 S. Cherry Road, Rock Hill. It is hosted by the unit's Family Readiness Group.

For more information, e-mail the FRG group at RHFRG@truvista.net, or call the Rock Hill armory at 803-366-3098.