BY BILL JONES
STAFF WRITER
Thousands of supporters took part Thursday in a farewell ceremony at a Knoxville U.S. Army Reserve Center for 844th Engineer Battalion soldiers who departed on the first stage of a journey that likely will take them to Iraq.
Maj. Jesse Stalder, a spokesman for the Army Reserve's 412th Engineering Command, said the soldiers, including four from the Greene County area, will spend the next two months undergoing training at Fort McCoy, Wis.
"There, the soldiers will receive their final training before they head to the CENTCOM (U.S. Central Command) area of operation," Maj. Stalder said.
The reserve unit's exact destination is not being revealed for security reasons, Stalder said.
The approximately 200 844th Engineer Battalion soldiers departed the Army Reserve Center by bus about 9:15 a.m. Thursday for the McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base near Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport.
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