FT. STEWART, Ga. — More than 3,000 Indiana National Guard members are just hours from deploying to Iraq. That includes hundreds from the 293rd Division's Warsaw based Alpha Company.

More than 10,000 friends and family had one last chance this weekend to say a tearful goodbye.

The 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is the largest deployment of Hoosier Guardsmen since World War II. As the unit prepared to march to war, they left with a clear message.

Alpha Company Private Seth Owen, a 19-year-old who recently graduated from Goshen High School, heard it loud and clear.

For the last seven weeks, he and his unit have trained harder and longer than ever before.

At Fort Stewart alone, the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team fired more than 3.5 million rounds of ammunition, on seven separate weapons systems.

They drove more than 21,000 miles in Humvees, MRAPs and Abrams Tanks, logging 650 separate training combat patrols, facing 1,300 Improvised Explosive Devices, and reacting to 1,200 simulated insurgent combat ambushes.

Two-thirds of the unit are now licensed as combat vehicle drivers. 1,500 are now certified combat lifesaver medics.

As a unit, they logged over 72,000 hours of language training, learning to speak common Arabic phrases from U.S Army Intelligence Interpreters.

In short, the units commanders said they are prepared for war.

"This brigade is manned, trained, and equipped to accomplish the mission," said Major General Jay Hood, who oversaw the 76th Brigade's training at Ft. Stewart.

"You're the best led, best trained, best equipped force we've ever sent into combat," beamed 4-star General and U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Richard Cody.

But for Private Owen's family, and many others, they were seven long and apprehensive weeks, with little communication between soldier and loved ones.

His mother Rhonda Baer helped keep her son with her by carrying around a cardboard cutout of him, one in his fatigues, and one in his dress uniform.

"For dinners out in nice restaurants," she laughed, as she sat nervously waiting to see her son for the first time since he left Indianapolis on January 2.

Then, the moment finally came and so did the tears.

"It's pretty amazing to be with family again," Private Owen beamed.

Like so many at Fort Stewart on Saturday, the words sometimes didn't come easily.

"We're proud of him 100 percent," said Seth's stepfather, Art Baer. "These are proud tears."

Still, the messages were clear on signs that read, "We support our guard" and "We love you."

They were printed on T-shirts that read, "My dad is protecting our country. What does your dad do?"

They were clear on the faces of children, silent tears falling on their fathers' shoulders, as they held on, and never wanted to let go.

It's the reason Private Owen knew he had to serve.

"I'm here so my family has a safe place to lay their heads at night," he said.

Amid the pride, the send off was bittersweet, because it meant the day had finally come to say goodbye for so many families. Still, the sea of marching boots that trampled the drought laden Georgia grass Saturday afternoon signaled a new family had been created.

"These are nighthawk soldiers," the 76th Brigade's Commander Col. Corey Carr proudly proclaimed before calling his unit to attention. "We are ready to point the way."

That new family is bound by the pride of their historic deployment, that will leave Indiana with more Guardsmen serving in harm's way than any other state.

It was a point of pride for Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who inspected the unit during the send-off ceremony, and proclaimed them as warriors and heroes, ready for battle.

"You will bring safety to our children, and honor to our state," he said. "God bless you. We'll see you when you get back."

Private Owen knows he will bring honor to Hoosiers, and to his family, for one simple reason:

"I know I've got people back at home waiting for me," he said.

He also know the toughest moments still lie ahead.

"We don't know when we're going to hear from him again," said Art. "That's the hardest part, the unknown."

Now, as the clock resets, the hugs and tears must stretch far beyond just seven weeks, as the march to war begins.

But exactly how long those hugs and tears will have to last, no one knows for sure. We do know the 76th ICBT will be performing security patrols for convoys across Iraq, and that could keep them there for at least a year.

The first half of the unit could deploy as early as March 7. They'll train for two more weeks in Kuwait, before crossing the border into Iraq.