And the community also came to say good-bye.
     "We wish you every success in completing your mission and obviously we pray for your safe return," U.S. Representative Cliff Stearns said.
     The company includes soldiers from Ocala and Gainesville... but also Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
     The farewell ceremony was at First Baptist Church in Ocala.
     "I think there's a lot of anticipation.  I think there's a lot of uncertainty.  Whenever you go in a combat environment, it is uncertain.  At the same time, I think they're determined and they're ready," Lt. Jeremiah Blocker, Company Commander, said.
    Emotions were mixed because the soldiers' deployment date is getting closer.
     And for many of the soldiers, it's their first time being deployed, and they say they're getting anxious.
     "A little nervous.  But they've got really good people here training us and I feel like I can do my job," Pfc. Sarah Bradley, said.
     Bradley's mother was in the audience, and bradley says it gives her mom a chance to unite with other military families, who will be her support once her daughter leaves.
     "It's going to be the families who are left back here, and they're going to need to give support to each other," Bradley said.
     But for some families, it's not about who's left behind but about who's going along.  Husband and wife Tina and Abdo Amer sit side-by-side at the ceremony and plan to serve side-by-side in Iraq to keep an eye on each other.
     "If she's going to remain in the military and she's going to have to be deployed, I'd rather her be deployed with me," Abdo Amer said.
     Soldiers say the farewell ceremony is an occasion for their families and friends to learn more about what they do... and what they are facing... and above all-- the honor these men and women who are volunteering their service to their country.