Two National Guard units from East Tennessee and two units from Middle Tennessee will depart their hometowns on October 17th in the initial stage of a mobilization that will ultimately take them to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. A total of approximately 200 soldiers will be leaving from Elizabethton, Mountain City, Centerville and Hohenwald. They comprise the 776th and 771st Maintenance Companies, respectively. They are scheduled to report to their hometown armories on October 14th. The Tennessee Guardsmen will first travel to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, where they will remain for a brief but unspecified period of time before deploying to their ultimate destinations in Southwest Asia. More than 13,500 Tennessee Army and Air National Guardsmen have been mobilized since Sept. 11, 2001.