Soldiers of Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 130th Field Artillery, Kansas National Guard, will be honored at a departure ceremony Friday, Aug. 18. The ceremony will take place at St. James Academy, 24505 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa.

Doors open at 4 p.m. and the ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.

This is a great opportunity for our soldiers to implement the skills that they have developed over their careers, said 1st Lt. Curtis Parkhurst, Battery B commanding officer. We have been focused on preparing for this mission for over a year and we are ready to complete our training and conduct our mission

The soldiers will deploy to Afghanistan for Operation Freedom Sentinel to provide rocket and missile fire in support of the combatant commander in the Central Command area of responsibility.