TUPELO — More than 4,000 Mississippi National Guard soldiers are leaving their homes this month as part of a year-long deployment.
The 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Tupelo, is leaving for a three-month training deployment in Fort Bliss, Texas, followed by nine months overseas. The guard unit is supposed to deter and react to threats in the Middle East.
The brigade is based in Tupelo, with units in McComb, Senatobia, Starkville, Amory, Monticello and Meridian, as well as in Kansas City, Kansas.
Some of those communities held send-off events for local units last week. Police in Columbus on Monday are escorting artillery members as they leave town.
This will be the brigade’s third deployment to the Middle East since 2001.
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