COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A hard-hit Marine company that lost 16 members in Iraq last year will be deployed to Chad, an African nation dealing with rebel violence within its own borders and in neighboring Sudan.

officials said the company would be part of a training exercise, not combat, NewsChannel5 reported.

"This is an exercise. It would be an exercise two weeks in duration which is the normal course of action for drilling reservists in the Marine Corps to uphold their commitment for two weeks of active duty a year and that's exactly what the general was referring to," Lt. Col. Geoffrey Gallo said.

The reservists of Lima Company regrouped at their Columbus headquarters Saturday for the first time since their return to Ohio in October. They were told that they would be deployed next year.

"Wherever they send us, we will be there 100 percent to defend each other," Gunnery Sgt. Shawn Delgado said.

It was a mixed mood as troops settled in for a "drill weekend" and were reunited with families of fallen Marines. Parents and widows shared emotional embraces with their sons' comrades. Some carried the child a father never not got to hold.

Nine members of the 140-member company -- a branch of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines based in Brook Park, Ohio -- were among the 14 Marines who died Aug. 3 in the deadliest roadside bombing of U.S. troops in Iraq.

"What this family of Marines in Columbus have endured on behalf of their country is remarkable," said Major Gen. Douglas O'Dell, commanding general of the 4th Marine Division.

O'Dell presented the families of Sgts. Justin Hoffman and David Kreuter a posthumous Navy Commendation and a posthumous Navy Achievement award, respectively. Both men died in the August explosion.

"It's really an honor," said Carole Hoffman, Justin's mother. "We wish Justin could be here to accept it."

As troops checked in to receive their equipment and undergo medical exams, Delgado said Saturday's drill signified a return to work.

In the next couple of months, the troops will go through rifle and machine-gun training as well as training with the Columbus SWAT team.

"They still have much on their shoulders and we pray them well in their futures," O'Dell said.