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S.C. National Guard unit headed for Iraq

Aug-14-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

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By Chuck Crumbo Knight Ridder

COLUMBIA - As gray skies hinted the impending arrival of Hurricane Charley, a seasoned sergeant offered some advice to the drivers of 56 S.C. National Guard Humvees, transport trucks and 18-wheelers headed for Fort Bragg, N.C.

"Yes, we've got to get there at a certain time," said 1st Sgt. Wayne, as the soldiers readied for the first leg of a 6,600-mile journey that will lead to Iraq. "But we're not in that much of a hurry to get somebody hurt." [...]

So it went Friday as another S.C. unit left for war. This time it was the 1st Battalion, 151st Aviation Regiment, made up of 275 soldiers who fly, maintain, and arm Apache helicopters.

The National Guard asked that soldiers' last names be withheld for security reasons.

Lt. Col. Edward McKee, 41, commander of the Apache unit, said his soldiers will be supporting combat missions being carried out by an Army Stryker brigade based at Mosul.

McKee's unit will be taking 18 AH-64 Apache helicopters - the Army's primary attack helicopter - to Iraq. The Apache is armed with Hellfire missiles, rockets and 30 millimeter machine guns that can fire 600 rounds a minute.

The battalion will grow to about 500 soldiers with the addition of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter unit from the Tennessee National Guard, McKee said.

The troops will train for six weeks at Fort Bragg and then head to Iraq, McKee said. [...]


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