FARGO (AP) - A community said goodbye Friday to about 300 North Dakota National Guard soldiers leaving for a yearlong tour of duty on a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

The troops are among 700 statewide who are heading a multinational force.

North Dakota Guard officials say it is the largest single mobilization for the state Guard in five decades. The soldiers will train in Indiana and Germany before going to Kosovo.

A number of officials, including the mayors of Fargo and Valley City, thanked the soldiers at Friday's ceremony for their help during the state's flood fight earlier this spring. Guard members were stationed around North Dakota to maintain security and help residents rebuild.

The ceremony at the Fargo Civic Center was for about 300 soldiers with the 231st Maneuver Task Force. A similar ceremony was held earlier in Bismarck to recognize the other North Dakota soldiers joining the mission. Units are based in Valley City and Fargo.

"It's very gratifying for me to the see the community, the employers and the families support their soldiers," said Lt. Col. Lee Nordin, the 231st's commander.

Sgt. 1st Class Chris Jennewein of Grand Forks prepared to say goodbye to his wife, Stacy, and sons Tyler, 19, and Cody, 15, as he faced his second deployment. He served in Iraq for 1½ years in 2004-05.

This deployment is a little easier, Jennewein said, because he has a better idea what to expect and his family knows it's a safer mission.

But saying goodbye at the armory today before the soldiers board a bus for the airport still will be difficult for all involved.

The moment, Stacy Jennewein said, doesn't hit them "until they actually leave."