Soldiers of Detachment 2 of the the Army National Guard’s 155thInfantry Battalion of the 1-155th Separate Armored Brigade andtheir families will have one last chance to say goodbye Wednesdaybefore the soldiers deploy to Camp Shelby and possibly Iraq.

Approximately 75 soldiers of the unit, based here, will leavetheir armory on Highway 84 Bypass on Wednesday for three months ofpost-mobilization training before deployment to Iraq, shouldcircumstances in that war-torn region remain unchanged.

Soldiers will meet with their families and friends during abreakfast beginning around 8:30 a.m. The public is invited toattend a brief departure ceremony at 9 a.m. Wednesday at thearmory.

“The ceremony shouldn’t last longer than 30 or 40 minutes,” saidStaff Sgt. Lucius Washington, the detachment’s readinessnoncommissioned officer in charge.

Regional and local officials will have “a short window” toaddress the troops on behalf of their constituents during theceremony, Washington said. Officials who have already expressedthat desire include Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Reps. Dr. Jim Barnettand Bobby Moak and Brookhaven Mayor Bob Massengill.

The ceremony must be brief, Washington said, because the unitwill make a short parade through the city before linking up withtheir headquarters company, based in McComb, by 11 a.m. for aparade there and the movement to Camp Shelby.

“We have some timelines we have to meet, so the ceremony isreally just a chance for everyone to meet with the soldiers beforewe leave,” Washington said. “We’re asking everyone to come out andsupport the troops on their departure either at the armory or alongthe parade route.”

The soldiers will leave the armory and turn right onto Highway84, then left onto Highway 51 into Brookhaven, then right ontoNatchez Avenue, left onto South Jackson Street, right onto EastChickasaw Street, left onto Whitworth Avenue, left onto MonticelloStreet and then left again on Brookway Boulevard before taking I-55to McComb.

The soldiers began their active-duty tour Saturday. Full-timemembers of the unit already had done most of the preparations,Washington said, but the unit spent the weekend completing othertasks.

“They’ve been making sure they’ve got all their equipment readyand they’ve been doing some preloads of ammunition,” he said. “Thetypical last minute details.”

The deployment is part of the mobilization of more than 3,500soldiers of the155th Separate Armored Brigade, which also includesunits in Monticello, McComb, Crystal Springs, Prentiss andTylertown. Monticello’s 106th Support Battalion left for CampShelby on Aug. 17.

The 155th SAB, headquartered in Tupelo, is comprised of units in49 locations throughout the state. Component units will bemobilizing to Camp Shelby throughout the month of August.

The soldiers will spend three months at Camp Shelby forin-processing and post-mobilization training before deploying toFort Irwin, Calif., for a three-week long mission rehearsalexercise, according to Maj. Danny Blanton of the National Guard’s102nd Public Affairs Office in Jackson.

The brigade was called up as part of a Presidential PartialMobilization of Reserve Forces to support operations in Iraq. Underpartial mobilization orders, reservists can be activated for 24months, but that period can be extended or shortened depending onthe needs of the Army, Blanton said.