Soldiers from across the state are starting their tour overseas. National Guard troops with the 32nd Infantry Brigade have arrived in Kuwait.

Before they left the states, an Eau Claire woman had a chance to talk with some of them.

Erika Dinkel-Smith went to Fort Bliss, Texas to visit her boyfriend, Sgt. Tim England.

The 25-year-old brought a camera with her and spent a day with our troops – as they continued their journey from Wisconsin to war.

"I'm kind of excited, honestly,” said Sgt. Destiny Goette. “I joined in '97 and I've never been deployed."

Sgt. Goette – based out of Camp Douglas – was among the soldiers boarding the plane to the Middle East. She says her husband is also serving overseas – leaving their two boys at home with family.

"They had to lose everything,” she said. “They lost their school, their friends, their home and both their parents. And it is very hard."

Staff Sgt. Michael Voelker also left a wife and two kids in Eau Claire for this, his second deployment.

"It's a big step to go on, but we're adapting to it,” Staff Sgt. Voelker said. “The highlight of this tour is when I get back, I'm going to retire from the military after 22 years."

3,200 soldiers. Each with their own story. Each leaving American soil for the better part of a year.

"Little scared,” said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Riebe III, from Cumberland. “Don't want to leave. You know, gonna' miss the family and everything."

"I'll miss playing softball with my daughter and family and going for long walks with my dogs,” added Staff Sgt. Michael Schraeder, from Eau Claire.

Public Affairs Officer, Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, says the men and women have been training for nine weeks at Camp McGregor – which if part of Ft. Bliss.

He says he’s confident they’ll leave Iraq a better place than they found it.

"We do it because America needs it done and we'll do it as well as we can do it and we'll do it as well as it can be done and then we'll come back to our families when it's finished,” Lt. Col. Donovan said.

Lt. Col. Donovan says Wisconsin troops will mainly be part of the detainee operations and security missions in Iraq. He says they’ll be overseas until the spring of 2010.