Twenty-eight members of the West Virginia Air National Guard's 167th Airlift Wing are heading to Iraq.

Capt. Melissa Shade says the guard members are expected to leave early Saturday. They will first go to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida for training.

Shade says some members then will go to Iraq. Others will return to West Virginia for a short time before deploying to Iraq.

Shade says the deployment will last until March.

The 167th Airlift Wing is based south of Martinsburg.