Senior Patrick Lagrave left school with only a month to go. Instead of wearing a cap and gown, he'll be wearing his camouflage fatigues.
Company A, 1B Support Battalion is going to Fort Bragg, N. C., to replace another unit that has been sent to war, Capt. Corey Baute said.
The Muncie-based Indiana National Guard unit was mobilized at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
He said the order to mobilize came last week.
Though the soldiers were anxious, they accepted the news.
"Leaving Ball State in the middle of the semester is kind of hard, but I'm okay with it," Pfc. Lagrave said. "I pretty much have to do a job."
Lagrav said his professors will let him make up his classes next year.
Spc. Kim Kingen said the soldiers find strength in each other.
"We're ready to go," Kingen said. "It's hard to leave our families, but we're all one big family here, so I think it will be all right."
Most soldiers said they would miss their family.
"I'm excited but sad about leaving my friends and family for the summer," Spc. Sandrina Whittworth said.
Whittworth said that though the battalion had been told they would be gone a year, she thought it would only be a few months.
Family members gathered at the Muncie National Guard Armory to say goodbye to the soldiers.
Debie Adney, a Muncie resident, found out last week her brother Richard Tarr was leaving.
"I'm scared, uncertain and worried for him," Adney said. "But he's a good soldier, and he's excited to have a mission so I have to stand by him."
While some people fought back tears, most clapped and cheered as the battalion left.
Not everyone had a week to prepare to say goodbye.
"We found out at five in the morning (Monday), so we had a lot of running around to do," sophomore Laura Abbott said. Abbot's boyfriend, Spc. Ben Foreman, is part of the battalion.
"My first reaction was to cry," Abbott said. "You're really worried because you're not for sure how long they'll be gone or where they'll end up.
"I want him to be back now, and he's just leaving."
Abbot said that though she knew there was a chance her boyfriend could be called up, she wasn't expecting it.
Though the battalion is headed to North Carolina for now, there is a chance they could be called to war.
"It worries me, I know that bad things can happen," Pfc. Ted Kalkhoff said. "I'm trying to focus on the experience because it's a chance to do something no one else you know can do."
Whittworth also said that the thought of fighting worries her.
"Yeah, I'm nervous; I'm only 21," Whittworth said. "I'm afraid to go fight, but you've got to do what you've got to do."
Not all the soldiers were afraid about being called to fight.
"I'm not too worried right now because I'm pretty sure we're going to stay state-side," Kingen said.
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