The holidays are over and it’s time to get back to work.

And for the Rome-based 209th Broadcast Public Affairs Detachment of the Army Reserve that means shipping out to Iraq for a year.

The group of broadcast journalists and public affairs officers charged with operating radio and the Armed Forces Network to inform and entertain fellow troops is set to head out this Saturday morning, said Staff Sgt. Phillip Boyer, human resources officer and unit administrator.

The local portion of the unit is located at the Thomas H. Glenn Army Reserve Center on Redmond Circle. The 27 man broadcast unit consists of about 16 locals living in and around Floyd County and others from across the country.

“We’ve got people from all over the place,” Boyer said.

Click here to read about 209th member Christopher Parker, a teacher at North Heights Elementary

It may be a cold farewell, with highs forecast in the high 20’s, but the unit is still set to depart at 7 a.m. Saturday with a police escort.

“We are going to escort the bus from Redmond to the Bartow County line,” said Capt. William Hibberts of the Rome Police Department. He said at this time the route has not been set, but they’ll firm up the details in the next few days.

The unit was previously deployed to Iraq in Sept. 2004 and returned a year later in 2005.