SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is helping family and friends bid farewell to about 190 Army soldiers before they leave South Carolina for a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.
The Republican senator is attending the ceremony Monday for reservists attached to the 323 Engineering Company based in Spartanburg.
The soldiers are heading to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin for training before being deployed to Afghanistan.
The unit is trained to remove roadside bombs that are used to attack military units and convoys.
Some soldiers are veterans of the unit's earlier deployments to Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006.
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