HARRINGTON, Del. (AP) — Delaware is sending its largest deployment of troops to fight abroad since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with 170 soldiers from the Delaware Army National Guard heading to Afghanistan.

Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, helped lead a deployment ceremony Saturday with the state’s two U.S. senators. More than 1,000 friends and family members gathered at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington.

The National Guard’s 1049th Transportation Company based in Seaford will be serving in Afghanistan to help run convoys of supplies and soldiers. The company will provide convoy security and train members of the Afghan National Army.

The unit will spend three days training at the guard’s Bethany Beach site then will have six weeks of Afghanistan-specific training at Fort Bliss, Texas, before moving to Afghanistan.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)