It was a departure that marked the end of an era, as the last group of soldiers based out of CFB Edmonton boarded an airplane to take them to Afghanistan; they’re part of the last group of Canadian soldiers to be stationed there.

On Monday, 20 soldiers from Edmonton left for Afghanistan, they’ll be joined by 30 more soldiers based in Shilo, Manitoba – and they’ll spend between three months, and nine months in Afghanistan wrapping up ‘Operation Attention’.

The operation is a training mission that began a couple of years ago after the Canadian military ended its combat mission in Afghanistan.

The soldier’s historic departure was overseen Monday by Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff General Tom Lawson, who congratulated the soldiers before they took off, and thanked soldiers for serving in Afghanistan.

“Canada has a legacy, we’ve got enormous investment in Afghanistan in blood and treasure,” Lawson said. “158 Canadians have fallen over there, and many more have come back wounded from carrying out their duties in support of developing a safe and secure environment over there.”

This last tour is staffed by a variety of soldiers, from medics, to engineers, to air specialists – the troops will mentor the Afghan National Army and the Afghan Police, to help them become self-sufficient.

After the Canadian troops leave, the army and police force will take over safety and security in the country.

For a number of soldiers who left Monday, this is not their first tour to help train local soldiers and officers in that country.

“We slept with them, fought with them, ate with them and really interacted with the Afghan public,” Master Corporal Brandon James said. “So that experience is really going to help us on this mission, as well, working with the Afghan counterparts in our new capacity.”

Now that troops are preparing their last tour in Afghanistan, the mission has come full circle – as Edmonton-based soldiers were the first Canadian armed forces to be deployed as part of the US-led combat mission ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’, ten years ago.

The final deployment leaves 700 Canadian troops in Afghanistan – all are expected to be back home in the spring of 2014.

With files from Laura Tupper