By AP
Chattanooga, TN – Military officials say the Tennessee nationa guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment will replace the 1st Infantry Division in northern Iraq.
The 278th is currently training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi.
Major David Willis says the state's largest National Guard unit will next go to the national training center at Fort Irwin, California for desert training in late September.
The 278th will be deployed to Iraq later in the year.
Analysts say the region being patrolled by the 1st Infantry Division includes the hotbed of Tikrit and portions of the Sunni triangle.
The 278th has units at about 30 Tennessee armories from northeast Tennessee to Jackson and has been authorized to take nearly 4,000 soldiers to Iraq.