INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ About 60 members of an Indianapolis-based Indiana National Guard unit are going to be deployed to Cuba.

A departure ceremony for the 38th Infantry Division is scheduled for Friday. The soldiers, led by Lt. Col. James Babbitt and Sgt. Maj. John Folbrecht, will assist with operations of Joint Task Force – Guantanamo in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Their mission is to work at the base's detentions facilities, where more than 100 people are being held.

President Barack Obama has reduced the number of prisoners at Guantanamo by more than half since he took office. He had sought to close the detention center but faced opposition to Congress.