For Staff Sgt. Josh Weaver, the hardest part of his scheduled nine-month Afghanistan deployment was Thursday.

Saying goodbye to his two sons is the worst thing, he said. But "the sooner you leave, the sooner you get back."

"We are a part of making history," Weaver said. "I'm glad to be a part of it."

Weaver was one of about 100 Marines and sailors who left Camp Lejeune on Thursday afternoon as part of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade's command element. The brigade, which also includes an infantry element, logistics element and aviation element, will comprise about 10,000 Marines and sailors. Roughly 4,000 of those service members are deploying from Lejeune.

The MEB's mission is to conduct counterinsurgency operations and mentor Afghan forces, said Capt. Bill Pelletier, spokesman for 2nd MEB.

The service members will be "fighting an adaptive enemy who is not afraid to put civilians in harm's way," said Pelletier, who has previously deployed to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has significantly less infrastructure than Iraq, and has never had a strong central government, two factors that will make it "a very challenging environment," he said. But he has "absolute confidence" that the Marines and sailors are ready.

The MEB was activated, trained and is deploying within a span of about four months, Pelletier said. Though the training schedule was more rapidly paced than normal, "we did not sacrifice quality for time," he said.

Cpl. Scott Spaulding said he is looking forward to the deployment, which he volunteered for. The reservist from the Washington, D.C. area, said he has been to Iraq twice, but never Afghanistan.

Deployments "can be very rewarding," said Spaulding, a civil affairs specialist. "Some of the relationships can be very rewarding."

But, he said, he will miss his dog - Patton, a Mastiff-Doberman mix.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Elizabeth Baker and Petty Officer 2nd Class Rusty Baker said they knew the day would come when one of them would have to deploy. But that didn't make it any easier.

"We've done unscathed for a long time," said Elizabeth Baker, as she held her 17-month-old daughter, Rosemary. "We're ready, we're prepared ... but she's not."

Rusty Baker said he is upset to be leaving his wife and daughter, described by Elizabeth as a "daddy's girl."

"I just want to go already and get it over with. It's going to be painful," he said. "Missing being around (Rosemary) is, bar none, the hardest thing."

Contact interactive content editor and military reporter Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467.