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Tenn. Gaurdsmen Return Home After Year-Long Deployment

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- More than 300 members of the Tennessee National Guard are coming home this week after a year’s deployment in the Middle East.

Guard officials say over 160 soldiers from the 230th Engineer Battalion are arriving at the Smyrna Airport Tuesday.

National Guard spokesman, Randy Harris, says the troops have been deployed in Kuwait supporting operation New Dawn in Iraq and operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. 

“The 230th engineer battalion is a headquarters that has several engineer companies...And those companies will do anything from vertical construction buildings to road construction. Just about anything that’s required to support the efforts over there.”

About 150 West Tennessee guardsmen from the 913th Engineer Company will arrive at Smyrna Thursday morning. After processing, they should be headed home to Union City by Thursday afternoon.

More than 450 soldiers and airmen from the Tennessee Guard are still serving in the Middle East.

Over the next two years, an additional 1200 Tennessee Guardsmen are scheduled for deployment to the Middle East. Typical deployments last roughly one year.