HOUSTON -- State Rep. Rick Noriega, a major in the Texas Army National Guard, said Monday he has been called into active military duty and will begin his deployment to Afghanistan next week.

Noriega, D-Houston, said he will go to Austin next week and from there will be sent to a stateside deployment site. He is set to arrive in Afghanistan sometime in August.

"I don't know how long I will be there," Noriega said Monday night from his home. He said he will be assisting with training soldiers in Afghanistan.

"I am being asked to augment a group of folks who are going to relieve a group of our Texas soldiers, who are already over there," the 46-year-old state legislator said. "This is what I signed up for. I am no different from anybody else that signed up to serve their country. If by me being deployed, it allows for some other soldiers to come home and be with their families, well, it is my turn at bat."

During his time overseas, Noriega said he will continue serving his constituents, updating his Web site and even polling Texas soldiers he encounters.

"I am still serving the district, just in a different manner," he said. "I have a lot of people from my district that are currently serving. I have three soldiers that have been killed in action. I think my district will understand I have been called to duty and I am still representing them."

Noriega serves on the House Defense Affairs and State/Federal Relations Committee. He enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard more than two decades ago.

He is one of three state representatives subject to active military duty. The others are Rep. Frank Corte, a San Antonio Republican who is also a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, and Rep. Carl Isett, a Lubbock Republican and a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve.

Lawmakers are not scheduled to be back in Austin for a legislative session until January, but Gov. Rick Perry is expected to call them back this summer to tackle the issue of school finance.

State law doesn't require resignation if the lawmaker is called to active military duty.

Noriega said he confident his staff can handle the task, but he is having to make arrangements personally, such as selling his Suburban and making arrangements with his employer in order to make sure his family can meet its bills while he is away.

"All these little things that have to be taken care of in a very short period of time is the same process that all these other soldiers that are being called up are going through," he said. "It allows me to witness what they experience."

The one thing that can't be overlooked is a promise Noriega made to his 7-year-old son.

"Probably the main thing ... I have to do is take him to see Harry Potter," he said.