Days from retirement, Parson off to Iraq
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“They froze me. I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I couldn’t believe the 278th would get called up. I’m kind of upset, but that’s part of the deal when you sign up.”
Cantrell, 39, is a squad leader with the Monteagle-based 190th Engineering Company, Detachment 1. The McMinnville resident left with the unit yesterday for Camp Shelby, Miss., where the detachment joined McMinnville’s National Guard unit and the rest of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment for training before deployment to Iraq later this year.
Trained to clear minefields for tanks and other armored vehicles, Parson, an Oster employee, said he is unsure what he and his comrades will be doing in Iraq. It is said by some that many of the 278th’s soldiers will used as security personnel in the now-sovereign Iraqi state.
“We were trained in Cold War tactics, but the Soviet Union is a thing of the past. We’ve never had to deal with this terrorist stuff before,” said Parson. “That’s what we’re going to be learning down at Camp Shelby.”
Like some in his detachment, this will be Parson’s second trip to the Middle East, having been deployed there in the early ’90s as part of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. His previous experience, he said, will help him in that he knows what to expect, though he added that will only leave him to worry about his wife, Roxanne, and children, Jared Wayne and Amber Brooke.
While he won’t be able to completely allay his worries, Parson said he must do his best to keep his mind on his job, as he and his men will often be in dangerous situations.
“I’m just gonna try to do my job right and keep the boys in my squad alive. If you start worrying about the unknown it’s hard to do what you’re supposed to do. I’m just gonna take it one day at a time and let the Lord’s will be done,” he said.