For the second time in less than a month, a South Carolina National Guard unit is heading to Afghanistan; but not before a hero's goodbye.
/ Zoheb Hassanali
LEXINGTON, SC (WACH) -- For the second time in less than a month, a South Carolina National Guard unit is heading to Afghanistan; but not before a hero's goodbye.
Members of the Guard's 122nd Engineer Battalion held a ceremony at Lexington High School Saturday morning. The unit is going to Texas first for training before leaving for Afghanistan for about a year.
The battalion will train the Afghan army on construction and deconstruction operations and conduct route clearance.
In January, the guard's 238th Aviation Battalion left for Afghanistan.
First Lieutenant Lyle Rivers said it is not easy to leave his wife and three children; but that the job must be done.
"What makes it easier for me is having a phenomenal spouse that I trust; that she is going to be there to take care of the family."
This is the second deployment to Afghanistan for the 122nd. Their first one was in 2010.
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