BANGOR – A unit of the Maine Army National Guard that draws soldiers from all over the state will depart Saturday morning from the Augusta Armory in preparations for deployment to Iraq.

The Security Force 2 unit, comprising 86 soldiers from 14 counties, is scheduled to leave the armory at 8:30 a.m. Saturday for Camp Shelby, Miss. Just before departure, there will be a brief deployment ceremony.

“From Augusta, the unit will go to Camp Shelby for 90 to 120 days of really intensive, intensive training before heading overseas to Iraq,” Lt. Shanon Cotta, public affairs officer for the Maine Army National Guard, said Thursday.

Thirty-nine of the unit’s 86 soldiers reside in either Aroostook County or Kennebec County, and the troops represent 14 of the state’s 16 counties.

The Guard unit is made up of numerous units statewide, but C Company of the 133rd Engineer Battalion out of Norway sent 10 soldiers, the greatest number from one unit.

“For the past three weeks, the soldiers have been training in communications, first aid and tactical procedures, learning from soldiers who have already been over there,” Cotta said.

“The problem of any school or institution is that theoretical knowledge is great; however, the soldiers have to apply how the information is currently relevant for them,” the Guard representative said.

The mission of Security Force 2 is to provide route clearance, protection operations and convoy escorts while overseas.

The unit will be on active duty for 18 months and will serve for one year in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.