The Crossville City Council last night proclaimed Sunday, July 15, 2018 as “278^th Armored Cavalry Regiment Day.” The soldiers will be leaving the Crossville National Guard Armory at 6 a.m. that day heading out for their deployment to Poland. The city council is asking all citizens that can to line the streets from the armory along Elmore Road to Main Street then north to just before Interstate 40 to show their support for the troops.

The deployment will include two task forces of about 1,000 soldiers, and each will serve year-long deployments with about nine months on the ground in Poland for each.

It’s the first time since 2008-09 the 278^th has deployed. Before that the regiment deployed to Iraq in 2005.

The deployment will extend a U.S. presence near the Russian border, which was ordered three years ago under President Barack Obama after Russia annexed Crimea, drawing sharp criticism from world leaders, including Obama, and strained relations.