Approximately two dozen soldiers of the National Guard’s 35th Infantry Division will soon be heading to Kosovo to fill positions in an ongoing NATO peacekeeping mission.

The first of the soldiers will be honored in a departure ceremony Saturday at Fort Leavenworth where the division is headquartered. A second departure ceremony for remaining soldiers is scheduled for January.

The division is one of eight within the Army National Guard, made up of units from Kansas,, Missouri, Nebraska and Illinois.

Units from the 35th Division have previously deployed to the Balkans region of Europe for ongoing peacekeeping missions in 2003 and 2007.

Soldiers will first go to Fort Hood, Texas, for additional training before heading to Kosovo.