MINOT (AP) - Jeff Barta knows he has someone watching out for him during his deployment with the National Guard to Iraq. His daughter, Heather, will be deployed with him.

Jeff and Heather Barta, father and daughter, are members of the Minot-based 164th Engineer Battalion Security Forces unit leaving this week for training in Mississippi.

Jeff Barta has been in the military for 26 years, and Heather spent most of those years looking at her father's service as an inspiration.

"Even from being little and watching him come home in his uniform, or hearing about him going to Honduras or Germany - different stuff like that - and I just see how the military has shaped him as a person and as a leader," she said. "It is definitely what influenced me to join."

Jeff had planned to deploy with a unit from Bismarck earlier in the year, but asked to change that so he and his daughter could serve at the same time. Heather can see only a minor drawback.

"My dad is there, so maybe if I get in a little trouble, Dad will know," she said.

A sendoff ceremony was held Wednesday for the 164th.

The 119 soldiers are headed first for training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, and then to Iraq for the next year.

Guard officials say the soldiers range in age from 19 to 51, with the average age at 31. They represent 29 towns in North Dakota and several other states.

Heather's mother, Kathy, prepared to say goodbye to both her daughter and her husband. She declined comment at the ceremony, but Heather said, "It would probably be a lot more difficult if we were going at separate times."

Added Jeff Barta, "It would be tough for her for one person to leave and come back, then the next person to leave. So she's glad we're both going at the same time."