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October 2005
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
5:49:00 PM EDT
Guard unit to return through Camp Shelby
By Ashley Rowland
Staff Writer
Members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team will begin returning from Iraq to a Mississippi military base this month, even though many of their families can't find vacant hotel rooms there. The 278th is scheduled to return to Camp Shelby, 26 miles from Hattiesburg, Miss. However, Hurricane Katrina evacuees and emergency and construction workers have filled the South Mississippi city's hotel rooms and campgrounds and set up tent cities there. Tennessee National Guard spokesman Randy Harris said Fort Bliss, Texas, was the only other military base that could have accepted the 278th. Officials decided it was too far away, and Camp Shelby was prepared to handle the group's paperwork, medical examinations and the return of sensitive equipment, he said. "It's just the logical thing to do," he said. Mr. Harris said the group's 4,000 soldiers will return in phases, probably over a 20-day period. The Army has not released the return dates, but family members say soldiers have told them some will begin leaving Iraq in mid-October. Matt Lehigh, spokesman for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said it would take five to seven days for the soldiers to process out of Camp Shelby. That same process would take 14-21 days if the 278th returned to Fort Campbell, Ky., a site suggested by family members because of its proximity to Tennessee, he said. Mr. Lehigh said another group is deploying out of Fort Campbell, making it unlikely that the 278th could return there. The soldiers could have returned to Wyoming, but "obviously, Wyoming is a great distance from Tennessee," he said. Lisa Nyholm-Richmond, whose husband is scheduled to leave Iraq on Oct. 22, said she's "frustrated and disappointed" by the decision. "It'll be harder knowing he's near and I can't see him than knowing he's thousands of miles away and Ican't see him," she said. She said it was even more upsetting that none of the Army officials or Tennessee congressmen who promised to look into the matter called her back. "All I wanted was the Army to call me back and say, 'I'm sorry. We tried. We can't,'" said Mrs. Nyholm-Richmond, whose husband just signed up for six more years of National Guard duty. "They just ignored me." E-mail Ashley Rowland at arowland@timesfreepress.com
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5:49:00 PM EDT
They're coming HOME!
Guard unit to return through Camp Shelby
By Ashley Rowland
Staff Writer
Members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team will begin returning from Iraq to a Mississippi military base this month, even though many of their families can't find vacant hotel rooms there. The 278th is scheduled to return to Camp Shelby, 26 miles from Hattiesburg, Miss. However, Hurricane Katrina evacuees and emergency and construction workers have filled the South Mississippi city's hotel rooms and campgrounds and set up tent cities there. Tennessee National Guard spokesman Randy Harris said Fort Bliss, Texas, was the only other military base that could have accepted the 278th. Officials decided it was too far away, and Camp Shelby was prepared to handle the group's paperwork, medical examinations and the return of sensitive equipment, he said. "It's just the logical thing to do," he said. Mr. Harris said the group's 4,000 soldiers will return in phases, probably over a 20-day period. The Army has not released the return dates, but family members say soldiers have told them some will begin leaving Iraq in mid-October. Matt Lehigh, spokesman for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said it would take five to seven days for the soldiers to process out of Camp Shelby. That same process would take 14-21 days if the 278th returned to Fort Campbell, Ky., a site suggested by family members because of its proximity to Tennessee, he said. Mr. Lehigh said another group is deploying out of Fort Campbell, making it unlikely that the 278th could return there. The soldiers could have returned to Wyoming, but "obviously, Wyoming is a great distance from Tennessee," he said. Lisa Nyholm-Richmond, whose husband is scheduled to leave Iraq on Oct. 22, said she's "frustrated and disappointed" by the decision. "It'll be harder knowing he's near and I can't see him than knowing he's thousands of miles away and Ican't see him," she said. She said it was even more upsetting that none of the Army officials or Tennessee congressmen who promised to look into the matter called her back. "All I wanted was the Army to call me back and say, 'I'm sorry. We tried. We can't,'" said Mrs. Nyholm-Richmond, whose husband just signed up for six more years of National Guard duty. "They just ignored me." E-mail Ashley Rowland at arowland@timesfreepress.com
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