More members of the Rhode Island National Guard are heading off to war.

Between Sunday and the end of the year, 357 members from six units will deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan, some for their second tours of duty.

The deployments, which will be formally announced today, were previously scheduled and are unrelated to President Bush’s troop surge plan, said Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Denis J. Riel.

The schedule of deployments looks like this:

On Sunday, eight members of the Rhode Island Army National Guard’s 65th Press Camp will depart for eventual duty in Iraq, serving as information officers at the Army’s command headquarters.

In July, 136 members of the 169th Military Police Company, part of the 43rd military police brigade, will head overseas for their first deployment.

In September, 171 members of Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery Brigade, will deploy for Iraq. The battery’s mission “is pretty wide open” for now, said Riel, and could include anything from providing security to convoy support.

This is the second deployment for 65 members of Charlie Battery. Other units of the 103rd have also already served, including A Battery, in which Christopher Potts, of Tiverton, served. Potts died in October 2004 in a battle with insurgents in Taji, Iraq.

Also in September, 16 members of the 56th Troop Command Training Team, will deploy. The team is made up of infantry soldiers whose job includes long-range surveillance.

In December, 26 members of Company D, 126th Theatre Aviation will leave for their second tour in Iraq.

The aviation company members spent most of 2006 in Balad, Iraq, at a large military base about 40 miles north of Baghdad. From there the unit flew C-23 Sherpa cargo planes, providing various U.S. bases with food and supplies.

Currently 132 members of the Rhode Island 1207th Transportation Company are serving in Iraq, said Riel. At one point in the war on terror, as many as 900 members of the Rhode Island guard were serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“Certainly morale remains high in the Rhode Island National Guard,” said Riel, adding that many members have volunteered for their second deployments. “A significant number in some of the units are deploying with more troops than they would normally have” if not for the volunteers. Riel did not immediately have a number of volunteers requesting redeployment.

tmooney@projo.com