Troops in Edmonton who will soon be headed for Afghanistan are mustered Friday for a send-off ceremony. (CBC)Military officials in Edmonton held a barbecue Friday as a send-off for 130 soldiers who will be heading to Afghanistan in the next few weeks.

"They have spent the last six to eight months on training, depending on the specialty," said Lt-Col. Malcolm Bruce.

"They should be supremely confident in the leaders that are taking them overseas, the training that they've undertaken to give them the necessary skill sets for their deployments, and also in themselves."

Task Force 1-10 will be tasked with security in the Kandahar region of southern Afghanistan as well as helping with rebuilding efforts.

The tour for the two Edmonton units is expected to last about seven months. And the troops need to be assured their families will be looked after, said Bruce.

"I want my soldiers focused forward to make sure that their mind is completely in the fight and not worried about things that are going on back at home," he said. 'It just alleviates one more stress on soldiers that are deployed forward."

Pte. William Stout is a sapper, a soldier who does combat engineering jobs such as bridge-building and clearing minefields. His tour will be interrupted — to welcome an addition to the family.

'We're expecting in June, that's sort of my main concern right now," said Stout. "They're going to be sending me back for the due date, so my vacation time I get to come back and then go back overseas after that," he said.

The deployment is expected to begin around the middle of April.