JERSEY CITY – Tears filled Janeen Guzman’s eyes as she clutched her 9-month-old son, Caeden, tight to her chest.

The boy’s father, Spc. Luis Chavarria — her boyfriend of four years — was one of 167 soldiers from the 2-113th Infantry Battalion to say goodbye to their families and friends in a farewell ceremony Saturday morning in the Jersey City National Guard Armory. The 26-year-old Paterson resident and his Army Guard comrades are heading to Bahrain for about a year, officials said.

“It’s overwhelming, it’s exhausting,” said Guzman, 23, of Chavarria’s deployment and what it will mean in their lives. “And my son looks just like him,” she added.

Photos: Jersey City Army Guard Soldiers deploy Infantry company to Bahrain

The nation may be standing down from the wars it has fought over the last decade, first in Iraq and now in Afghanistan. But that doesn’t mean it is no longer demanding sacrifices from its men and women in uniform and their families.

Fifteen of New Jersey’s 21 counties are represented in this deployment, with 30 soldiers from Bergen and 17 from Passaic Counties. For some 120 members of the unit, this will be their first deployment. Another group of New Jersey military soldiers also were deployed this weekend – 130 soldiers from the 150th Assault Helicopter Battalion left out of Lakehurst for Kosovo, Chief Warrant Officer Patrick Daugherty said.

Daugherty said the National Guard will work to ensure the soldiers’ families are taken care of in their absence.

“The families are the backbone of the military,” Daugherty said.

The soldiers are heading to the Persian Gulf to provide security for a U.S. Navy facility, and the families and officials on Saturday offered prayers and wishes that the battalion return safely.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno was among the officials on hand for the ceremony. With a son at the U.S. Air Force Academy, she told the soldiers that she can relate to them because her son one day will be in their positions. And she said she also can connect with the families who have to say goodbye to their loved ones for an extended period of time.

“While your year will go quickly, theirs will go very, very slowly,” Guadagno said to the soldiers.

Chavarria, who said goodbye Saturday to 18 relatives and friends who, like his son, were wearing white shirts with his military photo on them, always wanted to be in the military – his grandfather served in Peru’s army.

When he learned of his deployment – his first — he initially did not want to leave his family behind. But Chavarria said he realized that when he returns, he will have access to certain benefits and services reserved for veterans.

“It’s going to be a better life for my family,” Chavarria said.

Martha Juraschka, Chavarria’s grandmother who lives in Garfield, wrapped her arms around her grandson. She said she is going to miss Chavarria but will be with him in spirit.

“Oh my God,” said Juraschka, leaning into his chest. “Half of my life is going with him.”

For Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Morse, 41, the deployment to the Persian Gulf is far from his first. The Mahwah resident has been in the military since 1990 and had been sent to Bosnia in 2001, Cuba in 2004 and Iraq in 2008.

“You get used to it,” said Morse, who is taking a leave of absence from his job as a firefighter in Morristown.

Morse and his girlfriend, Jennifer Diamond, are expecting their second daughter, Emmie, in January, and they also have a 22-month-old daughter, Annabel. For Diamond, this is her first time dealing with a deployment, and she admitted she is scared.

“But we’re going to get through it,” Diamond said.

Email: diduch@northjersey.com