324th gets big send-off before deployment

By Cindy Landrum  

APRIL 5, 2012 2:30 p.m. (0)

Deployment is nothing new for Dorian Talley, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 324th Signal Battalion.

The 27-year-old has served two tours overseas.

But this time is different.

“I have a child now,” said Talley of his 3-year-old daughter, Caitlyn.

Talley and the other soldiers in the 324th received a big send-off Wednesday afternoon in a hangar at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Greenville at the South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center.

The unit will receive several weeks of final training at Fort Bliss, TX, before they are deployed to Afghanistan for a year to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Michael Decker, 21, is being deployed for the first time.

“Obviously, it will be hard because I’ll miss my family, but it’s something I signed up for,” he said, after hugging his fiancée of a month, Jaclyn Thompson. “I’ve dedicated my life to preserving the freedom of America. It’s something that I’m willing to give my life for.”

Decker’s dad, Dan, said he is proud of his son, who is the fifth generation of his family to serve in the Army.

“I’m so proud of him, but as all the parents here, we’re sending our son in harm’s way,” he said. “The Lord will take care of him.”

During the half-hour ceremony, the unit was told they were the best the battalion could offer and they were critical to the success of the U.S.’s mission in Afghanistan.

“If you fail, the war fight fails and our adversaries win,” said Lt. Col. David Zillic. “If you succeed, we win.”

Each of the soldiers left the ceremony with a pocket flag individually folded by a Lockheed Martin employee.

The unit will be deployed until May 2013.

More than 200 of the soldiers’ family members and friends attended the send-off.