By Alabama Public Radio
Hattiesburg, MS – Almost 4,000 soldiers from 36 states, including Alabama, marched across the Camp Shelby parade ground Thursday in their last formation before deploying to Iraq. The Second Brigade Combat Team trained at the National Guard base near Hattiesburg for almost five months and spent three weeks at the National Training Center in California. More than half of the soldiers in the combat team come from the Second Brigade, 28th Infantry Division of the Pennsylvania National Guard. The soldiers will leave for Iraq in July. Another 1,400 members of the Florida National Guard's 53rd Separate Infantry Brigade will participate in a similar departure ceremony Friday. The Florida soldiers will deploy to Afghanistan.