Two batteries of the 1st Battalion, 204th Air Defense Artillery Regiment of the Mississippi Army National Guard based out of Newton were surrounded by family, friends and other community members as servicemen and servicewomen during a mobilization ceremony at the Brackeen-Wood Gymnasium Friday morning.
Lt. Col. Anthony W. Morgan, commander of the 1-204th, and Brig. Gen. Stanley E. Budraitis, Assistant Adjutant General for the Mississippi Army National Guard, addressed the troops and gave them final charges as they prepared for mobilization on Saturday.
Following the ceremony, men and women who will be deploying were dismissed to be with their families before they headed out for deployment.
