An Undisclosed Location

It's one thing if the mission is actually secret - you don't talk about it in the press. It's another thing if the country you're helping protect is embarrassed to have you there. At that point, you ask them what's more embarrassing - admitting we're there to help, or getting overthrown?

Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s chief artillery headquarters left the South Sound this week for a nine-month assignment at an undisclosed location in the Middle East.

The 17th Field Artillery Brigade took about 60 soldiers from its command group for the assignment, the brigade public affairs officer said. They left Lewis-McChord late Thursday.

The soldiers are not heading to Iraq or Afghanistan. They will serve in a Middle East country that does not want to advertise the presence of U.S. soldiers in its boundaries.