MONTEVIDEO -- Montevideo will be rolling out the red carpet today to welcome home the final unit of area National Guardsmen from service in Iraq.
The 27 members of the Rear Area Operations Command with the 1st Battalion, 151st Field Artillery are expected to arrive in Montevideo between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., depending on the weather and road conditions. The soldiers will travel by bus from the Twin Cities on state Highway 7 through downtown Montevideo. They will arrive at the National Guard Armory at 711 17th Street S.
If the return occurs on schedule, the community will host a welcome home ceremony for the troops at 7 p.m. in the Fine Arts Building at 310 Eureka Ave. The local Family Readiness Group is helping host the welcome back event and is encouraging the public to join it.
The RAOC has completed 11 months of service in Iraq and is currently at Camp Shelby, Ind. The troops are expected to reach the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport in two flights, with the first landing at 11:30 a.m., according to information from Montevideo National Guard and Community Training
The soldiers left Minnesota in November 2004 and went through training in Camp Atterbury, Ind., according to the Minnesota National Guard. While stationed in Iraq, they ran a Rear Area Operations Center, providing mayoral support for more than 25,000 United States military, coalition forces, Iraqi Army soldiers and civilian contractors at Camp Taji, Iraq.
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The RAOC also provided the first military police presence in Camp Taji, engineering expertise and guidance, civilian contractor coordination, public works management, base defense operations, and security screening and supervision of thousands of Iraqi and third country national workers and hundreds of visitors each day.
Troops with the 1st Battalion, 151st Field Artillery were mobilized and re-organized into two companies, Charlie and Alpha, and the RAOC for service in Iraq. Troops with Alpha Company returned to Minnesota on Nov. 21 while those with Charlie Company arrived on Dec. 4.
