HONOLULU -- The Hawaii National Guard announced on Tuesday that 180 soldiers will head to Afghanistan next year, but not as part of President Barack Obama's new deployment.

The Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers were notified a year ago. More than a third of the soldiers have deployed to Afghanistan before, officials said.

The troops are skilled craftsmen and women who will mainly provide construction services overseas.

"This is a construction type of engineer unit. Many of the soldiers are carpenters, plumbers, electricians and hold similar full time jobs in the state," Adjutant Gen. Robert Lee said.

Lee said he does not expect additional Hawaii soldiers to be sent under the president's new war strategy.

Although they are not fighting, the guardsmen and women are undergoing combat-related training.

The troops are scheduled to deploy at the end of February and early March. They should be home by the end of 2010, officials said.