WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (AP) About 100 soldiers based at White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico are getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the soldiers with the 2nd Engineer Battalion's 40th Engineer Mobility Augmentation Company were saluted Monday during a farewell deployment ceremony. The soldiers' deployment will last nine months. 

 

Capt. John R. Davis, commander of the company, says nearly two-thirds of the company's members have been deployed before, either to Iraq or Afghanistan. This marks the company's second deployment since 2008. 

 

Two other battalion companies the 573rd Clearance Co. and the 595th Sapper Co. are already on deployment in Afghanistan.