Soldiers from across the Alleghenies were in Blair County on Friday preparing to deploy to the Middle East.

The soldiers form the 298th Maintenance Company will first go to Texas for training then head to Iraq.

Sgt. Craig Johnson said he doesn’t know exactly what time the soldiers will be leaving, but said around 4 p.m. soldiers and their families will start saying goodbye. When the soldiers leave, they will travel to Fort Hood for one month of pre-deployment training.

After training, the soldiers are scheduled to be stationed in Iraq for one year. While there, they will be responsible for mechanical work including repairing and maintaining vehicles and other equipment.

About 200 soldiers will deploy and about half of them are from Altoona.

This marks the second time in five years the maintenance company has been sent to Iraq.

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