To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- The first Camp Lejeune Marines and sailors are on their way to Afghanistan as part of President Barack Obama's plan to build up troops in that country.

This is Navy Hospital Corpsman Rusty Baker's first deployment, and he said he's eager to get to Afghanistan.

"I'm feeling like I want to hurry up and get there and get on with the mission," Baker said.

It's the location of his mission that makes his wife, who's also in the Navy, a little uneasy.

"It's kind of fear of the unknown,” Elizabeth Baker said. “We know everything that's been going on in Iraq lately, but this is a whole different ball game."

Baker is part of the 8,000 member Second Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

"The significance of the mission is not that we're the first Marine force that is going over there, but that we're building on the Marines that have been there before," Capt. Bill Pelletier said.

The Marines are headed to southern Afghanistan, a place where they say the infrastructure is scarce and the terrain can be tough.

“Our battle space is going to encompass a large area that is going to have some mountains, some lowland river valley areas, as well as some large swaths of desert like area where the terrain is going to be tough going," Pelletier said.

The Marines will focus on quelling violence in the country and training Afghan security forces.

The Marines will be deployed for nine months.