As he hugged and kissed his two daughters on Monday afternoon, Sgt. Michael Butler knew these were some of the last moments they will share before he is deployed to Iraq.
A sendoff ceremony will be held for Sgt. Butler's unit on Tuesday night at the National Guard Armory in Hartford.
"I feel like I'm wrapping up something that I started a long time ago," Butler, of Cheshire, said.
Butler, an Army Reservist with the 325th Military Intelligence Battalion headquartered in East Windsor, has had to say goodbye before. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he went to Afghanistan. He was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and went back to Iraq as a contractor in 2007.
After that, he thought about getting out of military work, but those plans changed.
"I found when the economy crashed, I couldn't find work," Butler said. "So I went back into military intelligence because I have time invested in that. This is my life. This is my career. This is what I do."
His wife, Christine, understands that.
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"We're very proud of him and what he's doing for us and for everyone," Christine said.
The couple and their two daughters sat down with NBC Connecticut Monday afternoon at the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley Airport, where 290 members of the 325th will gather before heading overseas.
Ten months of their 13-month deployment will be spent on intelligence operations in Iraq.
"The gratifying part of what we're doing now is training Iraqis to do what we used to do, rather than doing it ourselves, and seeing them walk on their own does make me proud," Butler said.
But Butler knows that leaving wife and his daughters won't be easy.
Ava, 15 months, won't remember it, but Madeline, 4, will.
"Especially now that she can understand what's going on and miss me, it's really hard," Butler said. "It's really hard to say goodbye this time."
A mobilization ceremony is scheduled or 6 p.m. at the National Guard Armory in Hartford.
On Wednesday, the unit will fly to Ft. Lewis in Washington for two months of training before heading to Iraq.
