Forty-five soldiers of the North Dakota National Guard's Engineer Brigade will be honored with a "send-off" ceremony in Bismarck on Friday at the Raymond J. Bohn Memorial Armory Bismarck. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, adjutant general of the Guard, announced Monday that members of a Bismarck-based unit are scheduled to be mobilized for duty in Iraq.

Gov. John Hoeven, Sprynczynatyk, as well as representatives from elected offices are scheduled to be present along with families and friends to officially send-off the unit.

On Saturday, the unit will travel to Camp Atterbury, Ind., for additional training prior to deploying to Iraq. At 7 p.m. Saturday, the unit is scheduled to leave the armory by buses. The Patriot Guard Riders are expected to be assembled on East Divide Avenue to pay tribute to the soldiers.

The public is invited to gather on the Bismarck Expressway frontage road from East Divide Avenue to Main Avenue.

The unit is scheduled to manage U.S. Army Corps of Engineer construction projects in Iraq.

The Engineer Brigade commander is Col. Dale Adams of Bismarck.

Currently, the Guard has almost 500 soldiers alerted or mobilized to Iraq and Afghanistan.