Two Fayetteville residents were among those who departed from Atlanta's Fort Gillem for Cairo, Egypt to participate in a U.S. Central Command training exercise.

Georgia Army National Guard Capt. Brian Bischoff, a military attorney with the Army Judge Advocate Corps, and Georgia Army National Guard Sgt. Harvey Edwards, a hazardous materials specialist, and 12 other National Guard Soldiers of Company B, 48th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, joined an estimated 90 other members of Company B for three weeks of providing support to the coalition participating in Operation Bright Star.

Operation Bright Star is a biennial, multi-national training exercise co-hosted by Egypt and the United States. Participating forces also include forces of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Bischoff has been a Guard member for the past five years. In his civilian job, he a partner in the Fayetteville law firm of Bischoff and White.

Edwards has been a Guard member for the past three years. Before joining the Guard, he spent nine years as an active duty soldier, part of that with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. In his civilian job, he works as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in College Park.