Latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Midlands

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AP) -- Third Army commander Lt. Gen. Vincent Brooks is performing one of the military's tradition-laden ceremonies to show he is operating from new headquarters at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.

Army officials said Tuesday the ceremony was set for Friday at the base outside Sumter. During the event, a unit's flag is taken from a special canvas case and unfurled. The unit flag is decorated with colorful battle streamers to signify its past campaigns and military history.

Under the 2005 base closure process, the Pentagon ordered the Third Army to close its headquarters at Fort McPherson in Atlanta and move to Shaw. Friday's ceremony shows that Brooks and his troops are deployed and ready to operate from the new location.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)