GLADSTONE -- More than 160 soldiers strong, the Michigan Army National Guard's 1430th Vertical Engineer Company said farewell to their community Wednesday morning at a departure ceremony.  The group is deploying to Afghanistan where they will spend a year building provincial infrastructure.

"It comes down to helping those who can't help themselves, and that's what people in the U.P. are really good at," said Commander Jason Rolling. 

On Wednesday, soldiers got help from their community.  The Gladstone High School gym was packed with loved ones and officials, including Congressman Bart Stupak, but the focus was the families.

Commander Jason Rolling is leaving his wife Brandi behind for the second time for service.

"It's difficult, but it's one of the necessary things to do--an event like this--so we can get some closure and move on with our mission," Rolling said.

"I stay very busy.  Keep in contact with your soldier via email, send a lot of pictures...the soldiers really need to see what's going on at home," said Rolling's wife, Brandi.

After the ceremony, the unit was bused to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin where they'll train for 30 days before deploying.

Wednesday's ceremony may have been short and sweet, but goodbyes were long as families will wait a whole year to welcome back their soldiers, right here where they sent them off at Gladstone High School, in a year.