Photos By CRYSTAL LAUDERDALE / The Tampa Tribune

Video: Families Bid Goodbye

By JULIE PACE
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - More than 150 members of the Florida Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, are deploying for Iraq this morning.

The Orlando-based regiment includes soldiers from Tampa, St. Petersburg, central Florida and Miami.

The unit’s departure ceremony is taking place in Orlando. Immediately following the ceremony, the soldiers will travel to Camp Shelby, Ms., where they will spend one week before heading to Iraq.

The regiment is expected to spend up to 18 months in Iraq.

Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the tour of duty for 4,000 soldiers in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Armored Division would be extended 46 days. That is the second time in two months the Pentagon has extended a unit’s combat duty.

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Jeremy Kinker, Army PV2

Kinker walked into the National Guard Armory in Orlando alone.

He shared a long hug with his girlfriend of about a year, Heidi Tadmun, before she drove away.

Kinker’s deployment is hard on Tadmun, he said. He’s a little nervous too, but is trying to stay focused.

“It’s all part of the mission,” he said.

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James Tyson, Army Specialist

At 19, Tyson is one of the youngest soldiers in his regiment.

His 12 to 18 month deployment in Iraq will be his first time away from home, and his parents don’t hide their concern.

“I’m proud, but I’m scared to death,” Tyson’s mother, Sara Fernandez, said.

Watching news reports of the escalating violence in Iraq only makes it harder to send her son, Fernandez said. She believes the U.S. troops still have the support of the majority of the Iraqi people, but she said there is always a fringe element to worry about.

“I don’t think it’s getting any better,” she said. “There is danger around every corner.”

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Ryan Swinford, 2nd Lieutenant

While some soldiers arrive at the National Guard Armory alone, Swinford is accompanied by his wife and two young children, ages 3 and 1.

“There’s so much going on in my head right now,” said Swinford, 34.

This is Swinford’s first tour in Iraq, and he’s not sure what to expect.

He hopes deploying more U.S. troops to Iraq will help end the violence faster, but he’s worried troop levels aren’t where they need to be.

Regardless of the situation he will find in Iraq, serving his country is why Swinford is in the Army.

“This is what I joined for,” he said.

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