Soldiers from the 579th Engineer Detachment on Friday will set out on the unit’s first deployment since the Forward Engineer Support Team — Main reactivated in 2007.

If  you go

The deployment ceremony for the 579th Engineer Detachment will be at 12:30 p.m. Friday at the Vicksburg District building on Clay Street.

Vicksburg Mayor Paul Winfield, Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division, and Col. Richard W. Dean, commander of 579th, are to speak during the 12:30 p.m. ceremony at the Vicksburg District building, 4155 Clay St., Public Affairs Officer Mark Abueg said.

He said the group expects “members of the community to come out and send off members of our team.”

Soldiers from the Vicksburg District, the Mississippi Valley Division, the 412th Theater Engineer Command and the Engineer Research and Development Center are expected to attend as well.

Led by Dean, most of the soldier and civilian team will deploy to execute military contingencies and provide disaster relief in Afghanistan for about year, Abueg said.

Dean’s former duties in Washington, D.C., included advising Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on matters regarding Army Reserve engineers. Dean replaced the detachment’s first commander since reactivation, Lt. Col. Sam Jaynes Jr.

The unit consists of 36 members who can deploy quickly to provide construction and means for engineering, Abueg said.

Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com