FLORIDA - It was a very emotional morning as family and friends said good-bye to Florida Army National Guard members deploying to Iraq.

The buses rolled up to the armory before daybreak to begin loading the 110 citizen soldiers attached to "B" Company, 146th Expeditionary Signal Battalion.

For some of these troops, it's a third or fourth deployment to Southwest Asia. For others, it's their first time to leave family and friends and put jobs and lives on hold.

Lt. John Brake says, "...I just got married september 26th and leaving my wife that's probably going to be the hardest part for me hoping and thinking that she's going to be o.k"

Members of the Patriot Guard, a veterans' motorcycle club, escorted the buses to the airport. The soldiers will train at Fort Bliss, Texas before heading to their year-long assignment in Southwest Asia."B" Company 146th Expeditionary Signal Battalion Heads to Iraq