RELEASED BY:Lt Col. Greg Hapgood

PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER
OFFICE:   (515) 252-4582
CELL:       (515) 971-6385
HOME:     (515) 986-5725

RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

JOHNSTON, IOWA…
 

WELCOME HOME CEREMONIES SCHEDULED FOR 113TH CAVALRY SOLDIERS

Approximately 150 Soldiers from the Iowa Army National Guard’s Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry, are completing demobilization processing from federal active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom at Fort McCoy, Wis., and are scheduled to return to Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 21.
 

Welcome home ceremonies are scheduled on October 21 for LeMars and Camp Dodge as follows:
 

LeMars
The LeMars homecoming, for approximately 100 Soldiers, will be held at 8 p.m., LeMars High School Gym, 921 3rd Ave. SW, LeMars.
 

Camp Dodge
The Camp Dodge ceremony, for approximately 50 Soldiers, will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the 734th Regional Support Group armory, Camp Dodge, 7105 NW 70th Ave., Johnston.
 

The ceremonies will begin promptly after the Soldiers arrive. The Soldiers will be released to their families immediately following the ceremony. The public and media are welcome and encouraged to attend these homecoming ceremonies.
 

NOTE THAT ALL CEREMONY TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO TRANSPORTATION ISSUES, SEVERE WEATHER, OR OTHER UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.
 

The soldiers were mobilized in July 2005 and departed for their mobilization station at Fort Lewis, Wash. They previously served in Kosovo in 2004, as part of Joint Task Force Guardian.
 

Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry is based in LeMars. The unit performs recon-naissance and surveillance missions to assist commanders in planning and executing operations. Additionally, the following Iowa Army National Guard units also provided Soldiers for this mission (unit location in parentheses):
 

     -Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (Sioux City), and Troops A and B (Camp Dodge), 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry;

     -Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division (Boone);

     -Company D (Sioux City) and Company G (Storm Lake), 334th Brigade Support Battalion; and

     -Headquarters and Headquarters Company (Council Bluffs), Detachment 1, Company A (Camp Dodge), Company B (Shenandoah), Company D (Denison), 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry.

For questions concerning this news release as well as additional information about the operations, training, and activities of the Iowa Army and Air National Guard, please contact Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, Iowa National Guard Public Affairs Officer by e-mail at gregory.hapgood@ia.ngb.army.mil or (515) 252-4582 (office), (515) 971-6385 (cell), (515) 986-5725 (home), or contact Master Sgt. Duff E. McFadden at (515) 252-4666 (office) or (515) 480-7647 (cell), or by e-mail at duff.mcfadden@ia.ngb.army.mil .

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IOWA NATIONAL GUARD
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