Paris and Camden Soldiers Deploy

JACKSON – More than 150 Tennesseans from the National Guard’s 212th Engineer Company, based in Paris and Camden, left February 7 on the first leg of a one-year deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The unit departed the Paris National Guard Armory by bus and traveled to McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport in Jackson, Tenn., where they boarded a plane headed to Fort Bliss, Texas. The company will spend around one month at Fort Bliss undergoing advanced pre-deployment training prior to departing for Kuwait.

“We’re all really excited to get to Bliss and finish our training,” said Capt. Susan Parker, the unit’s commander. “We’ve been working really hard and are ready to put all our hard work and preparation to use in Kuwait.”

During the deployment, the unit plans to do construction operations for coalition forces. “We have a lot of talented soldiers in the unit,” Parker said. “Many are carpenters, masons, plumbers, and electricians in their civilian careers as well as in the military. We’re planning to do many construction projects throughout Kuwait and elsewhere; we’ll need and use those talents.”