RELEASED BY: LT. COL. GREG HAPGOOD

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

RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

WELCOME HOME CEREMONY SCHEDULED FOR IOWA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS
 

Approximately 20 Soldiers from the Iowa Army National Guard’s 554th Quartermaster Battalion and other supporting Iowa units are completing demobilization processing at Fort Riley, Kansas. The Soldiers have spent the past 15 months serving on federal active duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. A welcome home ceremony is scheduled for Noon, Saturday, June 16, at the Newton High School gymnasium, East 4th Street South, Newton.
 

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

NOTE THAT THE CEREMONY TIME IS APPROXIMATE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO TRANSPORTATION ISSUES, SEVERE WEATHER, OR OTHER UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.
 

The soldiers were mobilized in February 2006 and departed for their mobilization station at Camp Shelby, Miss. In Afghanistan, these Soldiers operated as an Embedded Training Team (“ETT”) and provided advanced logistical and combat service support training to the Afghan National Army and police. These Soldiers were mobilized from the following Iowa units (unit location in parentheses):
 

-Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 554th Quartermaster Battalion (Newton)
-67th Troop Command (Iowa City)
-1555th Quartermaster Company (Dubuque and Clinton)
-Detachment 2, 1168th Transportation Company (Audubon)
-Company B (Military Intelligence), 2nd Brigade Combat Team (Camp Dodge)
-Detachment 1, 3655th Maintenance Company (Eagle Grove)
-Headquarters and Support Company, 109th Area Support Medical Battalion (Iowa City)
-Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 185th Corps Support Battalion (Camp Dodge)
-Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 734th Maintenance Battalion (Camp Dodge)
-1133rd Transportation Company (Mason City)
-Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery (Fort Dodge)
 

For questions concerning this release as well as additional information about the operations, training, and activities of the Iowa Army and Air National Guard, contact Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, Iowa National Guard Public Affairs Officer by email at gregory.hapgood@ia.ngb.army.mil or (515) 252-4582 (office), (515) 971-6385 (cell), or (515) 986-5725 (home. You may also contact Master Sgt. Duff E. McFadden at (515) 252-4666 (office), (515) 480-7647 (cell), (515) 251-7335 (home)or by email at duff.mcfadden@ia.ngb.army.mil.

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IOWA NATIONAL GUARD
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