http://www.thedailycitizen.com/
http://www.thedailycitizen.com/
Gunslingers face another round of goodbyes
Staff Writer 16 October 2003
"Sweetheart, I love you. I've got to go," is something that many wives may be hearing in the coming days from their National Guard husbands. The local battalion will be packing all its soldiers and equipment and heading overseas to Iraq.
Major Clay Young of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry, 153rd Infantry Brigade Gunslingers National Guard unit talked to the Searcy Rotary Club on Tuesday about the history of the Guard and the unit's Iraq assignment.
The Gunslingers are a part the 39th Infantry Brigade, which acts as a strategic reserve in the event of two nearly simultaneous major theater wars. When the Gunslingers head to Iraq, they will be replacing the 1st Armored Division of the Army.
"We get a lot more money, better equipment and better training. We are the best for the duties," Young said. "If you go do a real good job, they expect more out of you."
The Gunslingers will report to Ft. Hood, Texas at the end of the month for the unit's second overseas deployment in a little more than a year. The unit will then be deployed to Iraq between February and April. A block leave will be granted to the soldiers during the Christmas holiday prior to deployment.
"We are the most deployed infantry battalion of the entire Army National Guard," Young said.
In 2002, the battalion was deployed to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. In 1999, 136 members of the unit were deployed to Kuwait.
Captain Chad Bridges, also of the Gunslingers, said the deployment is "a great honor for the brigade and the state."
Young said the officers would be able to communicate through an online cafe, but that phone use would be limited. He said the
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Army's increasing control of the former Saddam Hussein military installations was making it more bearable in Iraq.
Although the living conditions may be more bearable, Young said the summer temperatures in Iraq sometime reached 130-135 degrees.
"My friends keep saying its a dry heat," he said with a laugh. "I told them to get in an oven and see how it feels."
iWebTech: Chird Bobbitt