FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - About 200 Army paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division are departing for Afghanistan.
Army spokesman Maj. Fred Hair says members of the 4th Brigade Combat Team with the 1st Battalion 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment are departing Sunday from Fort Bragg.
Unit leaders are hosting a departure ceremony for the soldiers and their families several hours prior to their departure.
Hair says a second contingent is slated to depart later in the week. The spokesman says the deployment is expected to last from nine to 12 months.
The paratroopers’ mission is to provide base and convoy security for American and NATO forces while deployed in Afghanistan.
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