278th ACR Unit to Be Mobilized Beginning June 6

By Spencer Wix - TIMES staff writer

For the second time ever the Tennessee National Guard unit has been mobilized for active duty.

After several weeks of being placed on alert status, the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) will be mobilized beginning June 6.

An official announcement, which unit members had been expecting, came last week.

A phased in process for training will begin on June 6th and last thru June 10th. This is a home station training. Then from June 11th thru the 13th troops will prepare the equipment before they report to Camp Shelby, Mississippi. They are scheduled to leave on the 13th and it will be a two day trip.

Once there the unit, a combat force, will undergo mobilization training for four months before going to California for a month and then shipping out. Reports indicate that the unit could be stationed at an undisclosed location in Iraq by as soon as this fall. They are also being told that they will be overseas for one year. This can be changed at any time.

The 278th ACR is the largest National Guard combat force in the state. The unit includes tanks and armored vehicles which fill 585 rail cars, according to information received from a local Staff Sgt.

The call is expected to affect some 3000 of the 278th ACR's approximately 4000 soldiers.

Staff Sgt. Jerry Scurlock, with the unit from Lafayette, stated that approximately 33 Macon County men and women will be among the 3000 scheduled to ship out in June. The unit here has a total of 117 men and women who drill in Lafayette.

Detachments include Gordonsville, Springfield, Clarksville, Ashland City, Gallatin, Nashville, Smyrna, Smithville, Sparta, McMinville, Monteagle, Crossville and Jamestown.

Click Here to return to 2/278th ACR Homepage.