National Guard members leave from Quonset

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. - Nearly four dozen members of the Rhode Island National Guard were deployed Saturday to southwest Asia.

The 42 members of the 282nd Combat Communications Squadron are left Saturday morning. They’ll be assigned to Iraq, Qatar and Afghanistan for at least 120 days.

The National Guard conducted a 9 a.m. farewell ceremony at the Quonset Air National Guard Base in North Kingstown in hopes of beating a projected snowstorm later in the day.

The squadron’s mission will be to install and maintain combat-ready equipment.