n A farewell event is planned Saturday, with two more planned this spring.

By Emily Le Coz

Daily Journal

TUPELO - Troops from one Mississippi Army National Guard unit will bid farewell to friends and family Saturday before a year-long stint in Iraq.

Another departing unit will have its sendoff ceremony next month, with yet another awaiting a date for its official good-bye.

A farewell ceremony is planned for members of Troop A, 1st Squadron of the 230th Aviation at 1 p.m. at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Tupelo.

The roughly 60 soldiers will leave Tupelo on Tuesday. They'll go first to a mobilization station in Fort Sill, Okla., where they'll get final training before going overseas. Most of the soldiers hail from Northeast Mississippi, but some come from the Gulf Coast, Alabama and Tennessee, said Chief Warrant Officer Mark Stevens.

"We received our alert order approximately a year ago," said Stevens, who also will go to Iraq for his first mission there.

The advance notice gives troops time to mentally and physically prepare for their operation, and complete most training tasks at their home base instead of at a mobilization station, Stevens said.

This is the second deployment from this area this month. Members of the 658th Quartermaster Reserve Unit left March 17 for the first leg of their trip to Iraq.

It's unclear where the aviation group will be stationed once in Iraq. The National Guard doesn't release that kind of information, said its spokesman, Maj. Christian Patterson, who just returned from Afghanistan.

Patterson said this is the first deployment for Troop A, 1st Squadron of the 230th Aviation. But some of its members were in Iraq with other units during the beginning of the conflict roughly six years ago.

Once in Iraq, the soldiers will fly and maintain OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters, which are used for reconnaissance missions and security operations.

Also deploying this spring are the Tupelo and Pontotoc units of the 155th Brigade, which will leave in early May.

The Pontotoc unit will have a sendoff parade at 11 a.m. April 9 in Pontotoc. A sendoff for the Tupelo unit hasn't yet been announced, Patterson said.

Contact Emily Le Coz at (662) 678-1588 or emily.lecoz@djournal.com.