As the farewell ceremony for the 65th Engineering Battalion ended yesterday, Kaitlyn and Shannon Cushing made a beeline for their father.

Overcome with emotion, Army Spc. Shawn Cushing knelt to hug the girls, 9 and 7. His eyes teared and the girls embraced him as he prepared for his first overseas deployment without his family.

The 375-troop battalion is leaving for a 12-month deployment in Iraq, during which it will clear deadly roadside bombs from supply routes. The soldiers will be leaving in groups during the rest of the week.

“;I'm a little nervous,”; said Cushing, 37, at the ceremony at Hamilton Field, Schofield Barracks. “;You don't ever know what to expect. You see a lot of people come back, so I'm going to keep a positive attitude about it.”;

Family separations never get easy, said Sgt. Rodney Shillow, a Louisiana native and father of six who has been deployed several times.

Members of the unit sang an impromptu birthday song to his son Jayln, who turned 7 yesterday.

“;I've been doing this almost 10 years,”; said Shillow, 28. “;It's a challenge every day but it's nothing we can't overcome. ... We have a job to do for the nation.”;

Lt. Col. Scott Petersen, commanding officer, said the battalion, based in Tikrit, will also be training Iraqi engineers and closing some bases as part of an eventual drawdown of U.S. forces.

He said there will be some danger if the withdrawal of troops is not done in an orderly fashion.

“;There's also some construction as we draw down and move out of the cities,”; said Petersen. “;There's some base closings that have to happen. We might have to improve some force protection, and some of those outlying posts have to get bigger at least until forces starting leaving the theater.”;

The unit was formed in 1927 and saw its first action after the Pearl Harbor attack. After World War II the battalion left for Japan and Korea. After 800 days in battle in the Korean War and 12 years of overseas duty, the battalion returned to Hawaii in 1954.

In 1965 the unit fought in the Vietnam War. With the motto “;First in, last out,”; it is the most decorated engineering battalion in the nation.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the battalion has provided support to the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.

“;What's special about the 65th is that it's probably the most diverse battalion in the Army for engineers,”; said Petersen, who will be on his third deployment to the Middle East. He added that the unit has roles in combat, diving, map-making and construction.

“;We really have the full spectrum of capabilities,”; said Peterson, who will be leaving behind a wife and three sons.