Operation Spartan Shield deploys 200 soliders

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Two-hundred soldiers are deploying from Wilmington in the upcoming weeks. This weekend hundreds gathered to say goodbye. For many it’s not their first deployment, but this mission is different.

Red, white and blue Saturday were the colors of a goodbye.

“Really nervous actually,” said Megan Spence, the wife of a deploying soldier.

“They are kind of our backbone of this deployment,” her husband Spc. Michael Spence said. “These are the people we rely on when we go over there.”

Mothers, fathers, friends and family members were all together on this special day. Soon these 200 men and women are deploying to Jordan.

“It’s kind of a mission where we are not exactly sure where we will end up,” Spc. Spence said.

No matter how many times it happens, the goal is the same for the soldiers.

“For everyone to go there and come back safe,” Spence said.

For Spence and his wife, like so many, being apart isn’t easy.

“I’ve never been away from my wife more than two weeks, so being away for nine to 10 months is going to be extremely difficult,” Spence said.

They do what they have to; all a part of the greater good.

“The easiest way to get through this is to be as positive as you can,” Spence said.

A positive attitude in the face of a difficult situation.

“Stay strong, stay positive,” Megan Spence said.

These 200 National Guard soldiers are in the mission known as Operation Spartan Shield. The men and women are expected to leave sometime in mid to late November.