FORT STEWART, Ga. --- Artillery cannons flashed and bellowed.

Each crescendo soared above Fort Stewart's Cottrell Field, where 3,000 Oregon National Guardsmen from the 41st Brigade Combat Team stood in formation Friday morning.

It wasn't meant to mark July Fourth a day early. It was a tribute aimed at honoring the Jungleers, a group of Pacific Northwest troops who have spent two months training at the base in preparation for a deployment to Iraq.

"Saying goodbye doesn't get easier with practice," said Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who visited the installation to see his soldiers deploy for a fourth time since taking office in 2003. "It is certainly true for me and it's certainly true for the family and friends who stand before you today and pray for your safe return."

The soldiers, including guard units from Nebraska, New Mexico, Delaware and South Carolina, logged hundreds of miles along the installation's training lanes in preparation for the convoys and security details they will be tasked with in Iraq.

The soldiers proved themselves proficient to the tasks demanded of them, said Maj. Gen. Mick Bednarek, the 1st Army Division East's commander, the active-duty unit charged with preparing the Guardsmen for war.

"This brigade is equipped to accomplish anything that comes their way," Maj. Gen. Bednarek said. "It's been tough. It's been realistic. And it's been challenging.

"But let me tell you, this brigade can shoot and it can shoot very well."

Moments earlier, Col. Dan Hokanson, the commander of the 41st Brigade, helped case the unit's flag in a canvas sleeve.

The next time the red and blue banner is exposed to sunlight, it will be on the battlefield in Iraq.

Maj. Gen. Bednarek asked his audience, many of whom had traveled thousands of miles to send loved ones off to war, to stand up and cheer if they were proud of a soldier on the field. Nearly 3,000 family members and friends jumped to their feet.