Local Guard unit activated

By Staff
from staff reports
May 10, 2004
About 420 members of the Mississippi National Guard's 150th Combat Engineer Battalion based in Meridian have been put on alert to begin planning for possible deployment overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The local members are among nearly 4,000 guardsmen statewide who were put on alert about the possible deployment on Sunday by the Adjutant General's Office of the Mississippi National Guard. All of the soldiers are part of the 155th Separate Armored Brigade, headquartered in Tupelo.
Possible mobilization is expected to occur in the coming months.
Maj. Gen. Harold Cross, the adjutant general, said although the brigade has received an alert, the decision to mobilize or deploy these units has not occurred.