When Soldiers from the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 3rd Ordnance Battalion, cased their guidon July 27, Spc. David Langley came one step closer to a busy year in Afghanistan.

"The way things are right now, I don't think it's going to be, like, too chaotic, but definitely going to be busy," maintenance specialist Langley said.

The busy year for the Joint Base Lewis-McChord unit involves managing all explosive ordnance disposal operations for southern Afghanistan under Task Force Paladin.

"We will be in direct support of the ‘Dogface' Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division to defeat our adversaries and their complex (improvised explosive device) network while simultaneously helping to increase explosive ordnance disposal and IED defeat capacity within our Afghan partners," Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Frank Davis II said.

In the year before their deployment, Davis said the battalion improved their skills, integrated new personnel, helped other units with returning home from deployment, and executed a full ordnance disposal exercise with the Navy and counter-IED trainers.

"The team has prepared and trained very well, and we have a good nucleus of officers and Soldiers that have been around for the past year that'll help make us successful," Davis said.

The work in Afghanistan will be carried out by approximately 40 of the unit's Soldiers, Command Sgt. Maj. Patric Standley said. Only part of the unit is going because of a cap put on ground forces in Afghanistan.

"So the ones that we've picked, they're all motivated, they're all excited about going and are prepared to do their wartime mission, so I'm excited and confident about the team we've built," Standley said.