News Article

By: BILL JONES/Staff Writer
Source: The Greeneville Sun
06-23-2004

The National Guardsmen from Greeneville-based Troop G arrived safely at Camp Shelby, Miss., on Sunday night and Monday, according to a spokesperson.

Teresa Carey, the Family Readiness Group’s coordinator, said on Tuesday that her husband, Sgt. Lester Carey, had told her by telephone that the local soldiers had spent Monday unloading equipment and were scheduled to attend classes on Tuesday.

The Troop G soldiers left Greeneville on Sunday for an active duty assignment that eventually could involve service in Iraq.

Today, they are scheduled to begin so-called “soldier readiness processing” at Camp Shelby.

Carey reported that her husband said that what the Troop G soldiers most wanted in hot and humid southern Mississippi was "cool air."

On Tuesday afternoon, the temperature in Hattiesburg, Miss., near Camp Shelby was listed as 90 degrees at 3 p.m. while the humidity hovered at 62 percent, according to a Hattiesburg Web site.

"My husband said that even with electric fans operating in Troop G’s barracks at Camp Shelby, the soldiers still were sweating," Carey said.

Camp Shelby is located some 10 to 12 miles south of Hattiesburg in southern Mississippi.

Last week, Capt. Wiley Hammer, Troop G’s commanding officer, described the humidity at Camp Shelby as "brutal."

He said the Troop G soldiers are expected to spend most of the rest of the summer at Camp Shelby before moving for additional training to Fort Irwin, Calif.

Late this year, he said, the local unit, along with the rest of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, is expected to be sent to Iraq to replace another unit on duty there now. ."

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