SALINA, Kansas -- Members of the 226th Engineer Company only have a few days left in Kansas after attending a farewell ceremony Wednesday in Salina.
Their mission all the more important after President Barack Obama's announcement earlier this month that he is sending an additional 30,000 troops to battle in Afghanistan.
"A lot of base improvement type missions," said Captain Brian Henning. "That can include building the actual fabs that house the soldiers that protect them."
And even though they don't expect to be in the middle of a lot of fighting, members of the 226th are well aware that every job in war comes with a lot of risk.
"It's dangerous in the sense that there is no front line when you get to Afghanistan and Iraq," said Captain Henning. "You could be attacked everywhere you go."
For many of these soldiers, this is their first deployment. But despite that, and the fact they are going to such a dangerous place, their confidence remains high.
"Just go over there and do your job," said Private First Class Tyler Gay. "You can't be worried. You just have to go over there and do what you were trained to do."
"We know what we're doing," said Specialist Jonathan Hejne. "We're going to get our job done and do what we have to do and come back, and we're all going to come back safely."
For loved ones though, it isn't as easy.
"I'm proud of him," said Kelsey Parrett, Jonathan Hejne's girlfriend. "He's my boyfriend I'm going to stand by him. I'm a little nervous at the same time, but what wife or girlfriend isn't."
"Just him being in danger," said Hope Williams, Tyler Gay's girlfriend. "It's not really the time, just the environment he'll be in."
The soldiers will leave Kansas Sunday for more training in Wisconsin.
They're expected to head to Afghanistan in early February.
