RELEASED BY: LT. COL. GREG HAPGOOD

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

RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

HOMECOMING CEREMONY SCHEDULED FOR IOWA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD UNIT
 

A community homecoming ceremony for an Iowa Army National Guard unit mobilized as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom will be held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 1, at the 734th Regional Support Group Armory, located directly adjacent to the NW 70th Ave. entrance, Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa. All traffic must turn west from Merle Hay Road, onto NW 70th Ave., to reach Camp Dodge due to current road construction.
 

Local officials and Iowa National Guard leadership will participate, and the public and media are welcome and encouraged to attend the ceremony.
 

Approximately 80 Soldiers were mobilized in June 2006 from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1034th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. They then traveled to their mobilization station at Fort Bliss, Texas, for additional training before departing for the Central Command (CENTCOM) theater of operations in early August 2006. The unit served at Logistical Support Area (LSA) Anaconda, Balad, Iraq for the duration of their combat tour, and the Soldiers are currently undergoing outprocessing at Fort McCoy, Wis.
 

The new DoD mobilization policy goal is to mobilize National Guard and Reserve servicemembers for no longer than 12 consecutive months, but if necessary, those servicemembers can serve up to 24 months consecutively on active duty.
 

Based at Camp Dodge, the 1034th CSSB’s mission is to command and control logistics units, and to provide logistical support in an area of operations. Logistical support could include transportation, maintenance, water purification and distribution, and fuel distribution.
 

For questions concerning this 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 email at gregory.hapgood@ia.ngb.army.mil or (515) 252-4582 (office), (515) 971-6385 (cell), or (515) 986-5725 (home), or Master Sgt. Duff E. McFadden at duff.mcfadden@ia.ngb.army.mil.

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