Seasoned veterans and green recruits will accompany Brookhaven’sNational Guard unit next month when it begins training to go to warfor the second time this decade.

Company E, 106th Brigade Support Battalion, will departBrookhaven on April 13 to begin a three-month stint at Camp Shelbyfor training, after which it will deploy in July to north-centralIraq, near Baghdad, for a combat tour of nine months. The soldiersare expected to return home in 2010.

The deployment is the company’s second in the Iraq War, havingspent around one year in Iskandariyah, also near Baghdad, beforereturning home in 2005.

Company E Capt. Shain Vice said all of the unit’s approximately130 soldiers would deploy, with more than 80 of those Brookhaven orLincoln County natives. Throughout the entire 155th Brigade CombatTeam, of which the 106th BSB is a part, Vice said approximately 200Lincoln County soldiers would make the trip to Iraq thissummer.

Though the unit is no stranger to the war, the majority of itssoldiers will be tested for the first time, Vice said.

He said around 70 percent of the company is composed of youngsoldiers, aged 20-25, as most of the veterans retired from theGuard after the last deployment. One of the company’s youngsoldiers, he said, will head to training at Camp Shelby immediatelyafter graduating high school and will likely have to catch up tothe company in Iraq.

“You’re always going to have your soldiers who have been in along time, but I have a lot of young soldiers now,” Vice said.

The company’s mission will also be different this time. Duringthe last deployment, the company was stocked with infantry soldiersand conducted combat operations, Vice said. Now, most of thecompany’s men are support personnel – mechanics, fuelers and cooks- and will be assigned security duty, including convoy escort.

“It’s not easier, but it’s not going to be as intense as it waslast time,” Vice said. “Our mission this time is not to find thebad guys; our mission this time is to get supplies from one pointto another.”

Despite the change in mission, Vice said the company would stillrely on some experience gained during the last deployment. The mostimportant transferable knowledge, he said, would be the rules ofIraq’s roads and dealing with traffic.

“As much as our mission has changed, Iraq has changed just thatmuch,” Vice said. “You just take your cultural lessons withyou.”

Before the company leaves Brookhaven, the city will takemeasures to honor them.

There will be a covenant signing between the company andcommunity Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the National Guard Armory, in whichthe city will pledge support of soldiers’ families while thecompany is deployed. A plaque will be presented to commemorate theevent, which will be attended by Mississippi National GuardAdjutant Gen. Bill Freeman and 155th BCT commander Col. WilliamGlasgow.

“It’s a symbolic thing,” Vice said. “It’s not saying we’ve got acontract with the city. It’s basically a ceremonial thing to kickoff support from the community for our soldiers. For our familyreadiness group, if one of my soldier’s family is having problems,maybe we could get a list of people who would be willing to help,maybe not for free, but someone who is honest and won’t rip a wifeoff with a car repair.”

Company E will also wave goodbye to Brookhaven on April 13, whenit stages a farewell parade through the city just before ittransfers to Camp Shelby for training.