The members of Alpha Battery got a final warm embrace from the community on a chilly morning.

Friends, family and complete strangers gathered in Springfield and Rincon on Tuesday morning to bid the more than 90 members of Alpha Battery 1/118 Field Artillery Battalion a farewell as they head off for one last round of training before taking up their mission in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Kenny Lee’s family huddled in the cold in Springfield to watch the procession down Laurel Street before heading to Rincon to catch the parade make its way down Columbia Avenue.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to see him go and stressed over it,” said Trisha Myrick.

This is Lee’s third deployment — his first two were to Iraq, including a stint in that theater with the 4th Infantry Division.

“It is never easy,” said his wife, Amee Lee.

For Alpha Battery and the bulk of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade, this is their second call up to duty since the war on terror began. Most of the 4,500-man unit was mobilized for 15 months for Operation Iraqi Freedom, beginning in early 2005. About half of the Springfield-based unit has had prior combat experience.

“This is an important day for the community and certainly a very important day for the soldiers and their families,” said Lamar Crosby, a retired Army colonel and Vietnam veteran. “We just want to take this opportunity to say how much you mean to the community and how important we believe your mission is and that we all stand behind you and your families.”

Before its departure to Iraq in 2005, Alpha Battery received a similar sendoff. While in Iraq, many 48th Brigade soldiers were attached to the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division. In Afghanistan, these units could be broken up and dispatched to a variety of units in the country.

Even the mission is likely to change for Alpha Battery — they probably won’t be firing the big M109A6 Paladin self-propelled 155mm howitzers. Their mission, as originally staked out when their activation was announced, is to train Afghan national security forces.

“Before, he was an air traffic controller,” Myrick said of her son, Staff Sgt. Lee. “Now, he’s going as an infantryman.”

Alpha Battery will go to Afghanistan by way of Camp Shelby, Miss., where they will undergo a few more weeks of training before deploying.

“We are proud of you,” Ruth Lee told the soldiers as they formed up in front of the county’s administrative complex. “Our prayers and our thanks and every minute of our thoughts will go with you as our 21st century minutemen. You have come from a long line of minutemen, going back to the American Revolution. We are praying for your safety and may God protect you and bring you home safely.”

For the families, the parade and the community turnout were welcome sights, even as their soldiers marched off for their year away from home.

“I think it was great,” Amee Lee said. “He didn’t have this before. I thought it was nice with the community coming together.”

U.S. forces in Afghanistan
• Currently: Approx. 38,000
• Requested: Additional 17,000

Coalition forces in Afghanistan
• Currently: Approx. 19,000
• Number of countries involved: 42