AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — About 700 airmen from Aviano will be heading to the desert in the coming weeks.

Part of the Air and Space Expeditionary Force rotations, the troops are deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Most airmen could expect to be deployed for about four months, while stressed career fields will have to stay longer, said Capt. Susan Smith, the installation deployment officer.

Units with the largest contributions in the rotation, known as AEF 5/6, are the 510th Fighter Squadron and the 603rd Air Control Squadron. But, like most AEF rotations, the bulk of those deploying from Aviano comes in small numbers from units across the base.

Unlike the Army, which tends to deploy entire units to the desert, the Air Force mostly sends single airmen or small groups from bases around the world. Those airmen then join up to form new units in the theater.

Tech. Sgt. Chris Power and Airman 1st Class Steve Ciotti from the 31st Maintenance Squadron were among those waiting to leave Wednesday afternoon.

“Hopefully, just four months,” Power said of his expected time away from Aviano. But that will be too long for his son, Cameron. “He doesn’t like it.”

Ciotti’s wife, Andrea, will spend the time in the States “visiting friends and family,” he said.

As maintainers, the airmen will be supporting aircraft not only from the 510th, but “anything else we can,” Power said.

Smith said specific locations where airmen are being deployed are classified until they arrive. But some will head to Iraq or countries surrounding it. Others will support operations in Afghanistan, where several thousand Army troops from neighboring Vicenza are stationed.

The current rotation, which ends in September, is one of the biggest for the base, Smith said. The one following, AEF 7/8, will also be a busy one.

The other three of the five AEF rotations don’t involve as many people from Aviano. For instance, there are only about 80 people deployed in the current rotation, AEF 4/5.