Local residents set to fight for freedom
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Sgt. Melissa Cox, Specialist Samuel Nunley, Sgt. Alicia Templeton and Staff Sgt. Danny Gillette will be leaving their families behind for what is expected to be a year-long deployment in the Middle East.
The National Guard unit, officially the 1175th Transportation Company, will be making its second Mideast trip since the start of the war. The unit was first deployed from February 2003 to May 2004.
?I signed up right after 9/11 so I knew what I was getting into,? said Cox, one of four seniors who graduated from Calvary Christian in 1994.
Cox says she?s been busy talking to soldiers who have been to Iraq and trying to prepare herself as best as possible. Clayton Dunn, the troop?s readiness operator, estimates about 245 of the 299 soldiers in the 1175th made the trip to Iraq in 2003-04.
While Cox is proud to serve her country, she says she is certainly going to miss her family, including her young son.
?He?s 9 and a third-grader so I?m not too excited about leaving him,? Cox said.
Specialist Nunley said his thoughts are also with his family, which has five children ages 16 to 2, including four who live with him full time.
?I?m thinking about my family making it through this,? said Nunley, who indicated it?s going to add responsibilities to his wife, Lori. ?The main thing I?m working on now is getting my home life taken care of. Unit wise, we?re making sure our equipment is in the best condition it can be.?
The Tullahoma unit is a heavy equipment transportation company which means it?s in charge of transporting large military vehicles. While unit members will not know where they will be stationed until mobilization orders are issued, one train of thought has the unit being stationed in Kuwait and making regular trips into Iraq for deliveries.
?There?s always going to be a little fear, a little anxiety,? said Nunley when asked about going to a place as violent as the Middle East. He is a Warren County High School graduate who works at Shiroki North America in Smithville.
Sgt. Templeton was with the unit in 2003 but she wasn?t among the soldiers who deployed. Now Templeton, who says she hasn?t done much traveling in her life, will leave behind a husband, an 8-month-old baby and a 4-year-old.
?It?s something I?ve never done so I?m not exactly sure how I?m going to take it,? said Templeton.
The unit has been given its alert orders which means soldiers must be ready to deploy. As it stands now, the National Guard says mobilization orders will be issued in May.
When mobilization orders are issued, soldiers are officially on active duty. They generally get about two weeks to get their affairs in order before reporting to a military base.