Tuesday is the big send-off party -- or shall we say, parties -- for some 2,500 Washington National Guardsmen who are headed to Wisconsin for a month or so. Then it's off to Kuwait and finally Iraq as fully trained members of the 81st Brigade Combat Team.

The biggest farewell will be in honor of the hundreds of citizen-soldiers who normally report to the Kent Armory. We expect the largest contingent of dignitaries there. It's set for 2 p.m. at Game Farm Park in Auburn, 3030 R St. SE.

Hard to shut the public out of a public park, so you can swing by, if you'd like.

Sgt. David Largent of the brigade's public affairs office told me this morning that event planners "are focused primarily on soldiers and their families, but we're not telling people they can't come."

Likewise the send-off for the soldiers based at the Puyallup Armory, who will say their farewells at 4 p.m. at downtown's Pioneer Park.

And the men and women who train in Olympia will have their event right there at the Armory, 711 State Ave. NE., at 3 p.m.

From Bellingham to Spokane, each of the state's armories is holding individual ceremonies, unlke 2004 when the brigade had one big gala at the Tacoma Dome.

The News Tribune will staff the Auburn event with words and pictures, and we'll have feeds from our sister papers in Puyallup, Olympia and Bellingham.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the soldiers and loved ones.