AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday joined relatives and friends of 82 Maine National Guard soldiers being sent to Afghanistan at the 240th Engineer Group’s send-off at the Augusta State Armory.

A large crowd turned out for the ceremony, in which Baldacci presented a state flag to the unit before it shipped out on the first leg of its deployment. The flag will be returned to Maine when the soldiers complete their deployment.

The troops will go through training at Camp Atterbury in Indiana before proceeding to Afghanistan.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, and Maj. Gen. John Libby, adjutant of the Maine National Guard, also addressed the troops on Wednesday.

Currently, 351 Augusta-area Guard members are in Iraq and Afghanistan, most of them from the 152nd Maintenance Co.