NEWBERRY COUNTY, S.C. — The South Carolina National Guard held a deployment ceremony in Newberry for soldiers heading out to the Middle East.
100 soldiers with Bravo Company, 198th Expeditionary Signal Battalion will be supporting Operation Spartan Shield and helping with providing communication.
U.S. Army Captain Michael Tampas and the other soldiers will be gone for almost a year.
“It’s good when you have the family support at home. It can be stressful overseas. It’s nice to have someone reach back to you and talk to you at the house and know everything’s good at home,” said Michael.
Michael’s wife Courtney is sad to see her husband leave but she’s extremely proud that he’s serving the country.
“Bring everybody together for this really monumental moment. They’re about to go overseas and we want to make sure we give them a huge send off and make sure they know they’re in good company back home,” said Courtney.
U.S. Senator of South Carolina, Lindsey Graham (R), spoke at the ceremony at Newberry College.
“We’re celebrating patriots who are about to leave South Carolina to defend us overseas,” said Senator Graham. “You may be tired of fighting these crazy people. They’re not tired of fighting us. As long as we have some of our soldiers over there, they’ll never come here again.”
While the soldiers will be protecting the country overseas, Courtney and the other military families will countdown the days they all return home safe.
“I’m so excited for him to come home. I’m already looking forward to it. I already have a semi-countdown,” explained Courtney. “We’re very proud of our South Carolina Guardsmen, not just those who are deploying but everyone that’s still here defending our country staying in the state.”