An Army National Guard soldier from the Bronx is preparing to leave his new son for a second tour of duty in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Perkins says he got the phone call to serve about five weeks ago. He says he was given a choice, and he decided to go because he was recently laid off from his job at Lehman College. Perkins, who served a tour in Iraq about 13 months ago, says the hardest part of deployment is leaving behind his 3-month-old boy.

Perkins will assist a medical unit that has been in Iraq since November. He says he will be in a "calmer" part of the war-torn country. Perkins has served in the Army National Guard for 16 years.