EDINBURGH, Ind. -- A departure ceremony was held Monday morning for more than 60 soldiers headed to Afghanistan on a unique mission.

The soldiers are all part of Indiana's 2-19th Agribusiness Development Team, and all have experience in diverse fields, such as marketing, forestry, engineering, farming and pest management. They prepared and trained for the past 12 months at Camp Atterbury.

The soldiers will go to Khowst Province to assist leaders in the improvement of agricultural practices, 6News' Julie Pursley reported.

The mission is designed to improve the infrastructure in Afghanistan to 21st century standards.

"We don't want to come off to the people as mean and trying to take over their country," said Spc. Andre Camp. "We're trying to bring them up out of their condition over there so that country can grow and prosper."

Capt. Thomas Newcomb said the group's work will start with children.

"We'll start teaching some of their younger kids some of the farming practices and expertise that they lost over the years," he said.

The soldiers' families making sacrifices here at home know the mission is about changing lives across the world.

"For these guys to go over there and train them on how to raise their crops and take better care of their animals is incredibly important," said Newcomb's wife, Melissa, a veterinarian.

Soldiers said goodbye to their families before boarding a plane for Afghanistan, but the official deployment date wasn't released because of security reasons.

About 60 Agribusiness Development Team soldiers who deployed in February should be returning home from Afghanistan in December.