NY Army Nat'l Guard troops departing for Miss.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — New York Army National Guard soldiers from across the state are preparing to board planes that will take them to Mississippi to prepare for deployment to Kuwait.

National Guard officials say more than 1,700 soldiers were scheduled to depart on Feb. 7 from Syracuse's Hancock Field Air National Guard Base to fly to Camp Shelby, Miss. The troops mobilized this past weekend.

After training down south, the New York Guardsmen will head to Kuwait, where they'll provide security for U.S. military facilities. The deployment is expected to last for up to a year.

The soldiers include hundreds of members of the 108 Infantry Regiment of the Syracuse-based 27 Infantry Brigade Combat Team. In all, nearly 1,800 soldiers will be deployed to Kuwait in April.