TAUNTON, Mass. -- Many medical practitioners from New England are packing their bags this week, headed to Iraq.

NewsCenter 5's Pam Cross reported that an entire Taunton-based Army Reserve unit will ship out next week for more than a year of duty. It's the first time all 400 members of the 399th Army Reserve Unit have been called to duty.

They are a medical team equipped for anything, members said.

"(We'll have) emergency rooms; we'll have operating rooms; we'll have intensive care units; we'll have intermediate care wards; we'll have medical specialty clinics for outpatient (care)," said Lt. Col. Brian Kelly.

Kelly is the hospital commander.

"We are representing 32 states in the union, as far as this mobilization goes, but I would say three-quarters of the folks we are bringing with us are from New England," Kelly said.

The team has a variety of skills.

"Anything from motor pool mechanics to cooks to intensive care nurses and physicians," said Liason Officer Lt. Colonel Michael Nott.

"What I've been telling the troops is really the front lines are as soon as you leave the gate -- everything outside the gate is considered the front lines. Everything within the gate is the rear, so there is no really safe zone," said Chief Nurse Lt. Col. Joseph Blansfield.

The team is expected to give aid and comfort to thousands of U.S. soldiers.

"It really is an opportunity to make a contribution, make an impact on our soldiers who are putting themselves in harm's way and change their outcome so they can come home with their families. There's really no higher calling than that," Blansfield said.

The 399th will spend three months training stateside before heading to Iraq.