| Nashville – Approximately 300 Soldiers from the Tennessee Army NationalGuard’s 230th Sustainment Brigade, with elements in Chattanooga and Millington, will leave this week on the first leg of a deployment in support of Operation New Dawn in Iraq. Millington’s Early Entry Element (approximately 70 Soldiers) is to depart (today) Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7:30 a.m., and travel to Chattanooga where they join up with the main body of the brigade, approximately 240 soldiers. The entire brigade departs Chattanooga Saturday, Jan. 8. Farewell ceremonies for the brigade will be held at the Chattanooga National Guard Armory Saturday at 9 a.m. The first increment of buses will begin transporting the Tennesseans to the Chattanooga Airport beginning at 10 a.m. The Sustainment Brigade, headquartered in Chattanooga, is designed to provide command and control for combat service and combat service support units. It can be adjusted in size to support anywhere from 1 to 10 Brigade Combat Teams. A Sustainment Brigade has a joint capability that allows the Army to better manage the flow of logistics into the Area of Operations and provide support to other services for common logistics such as fuel, ammunition, medical supplies, repair parts for wheeled vehicles, etc. It is designed to operate independently in a Theater of Operations. The deployment brings to more than 20,000 the number of Tennessee National Guard soldiers and airmen deployed since Sept 11, 2001. wcp 1/6/11 | 
