NEW ORLEANS - The Louisiana National Guard's Vertical Engineer Company will deploy more than 40 guardsmen to Asia for construction operations. 

The Guard said Thursday morning the soldiers would deploy to southwest Asia for construction through Operation Spartan Shield. Including the premobilization training, the guardsmen will be away from home for almost a year. 

The unit’s primary objective overseas will be to provide construction engineering expertise to work on critical infrastructure, the LANG said.

This will be the 1021st Vertical Engineer Company's second time deploying since 9/11 and the first since 2013. The unit has also provided support for many state weather emergencies. 

The 1021st will deploy on Saturday out of Covington.