Seventeen soldiers from Austin and 16 soldiers from Albert Lea, members of the 134th Brigade Support Battalion, will join the second-largest Minnesota National Guard deployment since World War II.

A departure ceremony will be held for local members at the Albert Lea Armory 10 a.m. May 31.

About 2,400 soldiers from Minnesota in six different battalions of the First Brigade Combat Team are in training for two more months before they are sent to Kuwait. In late July, the National Guard will begin sending about 300 soldiers to Kuwait at a time. The soldiers are going to support Operation New Dawn, which aims to safely remove troops and equipment from Iraq that were used in Operation Iraqi freedom.

“We anticipate that the mission will be done with normal operations of convoy security. … But the soldiers will be very well prepared, well led for any kind of scenario that may come up,” said Major John Donavon, public affairs officer for the Minnesota National Guard.

The troops are scheduled to land in Kuwait this summer and spend about a year on their mission. They will be responsible for providing base management and security. In addition, the brigade will be responsible for securing the ground convoy transport of troops, equipment and supplies throughout Iraq.

Most of the soldiers are training at Camp Ripley, Minn., and will be going to Wisconsin for more training before they depart.­­