BANGOR - About 50 Maine Army National Guard soldiers will head west on Saturday for an engineering assignment on the U.S.-Mexico border.

A group of 45 soldiers returned to Maine last weekend after spending three weeks in Nogales, Ariz., building and repairing roads and drainage systems in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who patrol the border.

A second group of soldiers will report to San Diego for two weeks on a similar mission. A third group of about 50 soldiers will be gone from May 10-24.

According to the National Guard, up to 6,000 guard members are serving with border patrol agents in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.