The 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion has the questionable honor of being the first Utah Guard unit to leave families and jobs to do a second combat tour since 9/11. The 300 Utahns are going to Afghanistan after they finish additional training.

Few citizen-soldiers are delighted about going overseas, but Commander Derek Tolman says he saw his men's morale soar when they heard what they would be doing.

"The biggest thing was that our mission is predictable," Tolman told the Tribune's Matt LaPlante. "That's unlike Iraq, where we trained for a mission that we never ended up doing."

In their deployment to Iraq in 2003, the 142nd's morale sagged under boredom. "There is no need for us to be here...," a veteran e-mailed LaPlante.

In Afghanistan, the unit will do what it has trained for — collect intelligence and help hunt insurgents. They will do final training along side the unit they are replacing, before taking over.