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Wednesday, November 22 | Upstate South Carolina News, Sports and Information

State Guard unit headed for Afghanistan
More than 1,500 members of 218th Brigade will likely leave in early 2007

Published: Saturday, November 18, 2006 - 6:00 am

By E. Richard Walton
STAFF WRITER
rwalton@greenvillenews.com

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More than 1,500 members of the South Carolina National Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team have been alerted that they will be deployed to Afghanistan in early 2007, a Department of Defense spokesman said Friday.

Todd Vician, an agency spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the guardsmen are among the 8,300 troops who are being assigned to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Vician said the South Carolina unit will be activated in the first quarter of next year.

Maj. Gen. Stan Spears, the state's adjutant general, said the unit has had several tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is the state's top National Guard official.

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Spears said the 218th, with 3,600 soldiers, is the largest guard unit in the state and is headquartered in Newberry. Members of the unit live all over the state.

"They were the first unit deployed after 9-11," he said. They provided security at air bases along the Southeast coast.

The unit will train for a month in Mississippi, Spears said.

Previously, other Guard units across the state have been deployed to other areas for combat.

Also Friday, the Department of Defense said an additional 57,000 soldiers are being assigned to Iraq to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Army Public Affairs Office didn't indicate if soldiers were rotating out and coming home.

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penelope541	rid0617 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Dear recruiter: One weekend a month, 2 weeks in the summer my azz." Yep, rid, the citizens of the United States PAID you for reserve/guard duty in order to ensure your readiness for combat. Don't whine when you are asked to hold up your end of the bargain. And, everyone, even 61-year-old females, know ALL recruiters lie in order to get you to join. Didn't anyone try and warn you? penelope541 Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:54 pm

sabo954	LOL everybody knows the quickest way to get deployed is to join the Reserve or Guard! BTW - the title of the article is misleading. The SC State Guard is the state militia and cannot be federalized and is not available for duty outside the US under any circumstances, and only outside the state at the request of another governor and if our governor agrees to it. The National Guard is what is being deployed to Afghanistan. However, I believe someone can be a member of both or Reserves, but you can check for yourself: State Guard: http://www.scsg.org/ National Guard: http://www.scguard.com/ sabo954 Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:07 pm

rid0617	Dear recruiter: One weekend a month, 2 weeks in the summer my azz rid0617 Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:08 pm