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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 15, 2008 No. 08-078 SOLDIERS OF THE 35TH INFANTRY DIVISION, KANSAS NATIONAL GUARD RETURNING
HOME JULY 17 Approximately 88 National Guardsmen of the 35th Infantry Division will
be welcomed home from their deployment to Kosovo during a ceremony on
Thursday, July 17 at 11 a.m. The ceremony will take place at Warren Middle School, 3501 New Lawrence
Road, Leavenworth, Kan.. The doors will open at 10 a.m. and the soldiers
will arrive on busses from their demobilization station at Camp Atterbury,
Ind., at approximately 11 a.m. They will be greeted by families and friends
as well as Maj. Gen. M. Wayne Pierson, 35th ID commander; Brig. Gen. Jonathan
Small, the Assistant Adjutant General – Army and commander of the
Kansas Army National Guard; and other dignitaries. A short welcome ceremony
will follow. This is the second group of 35th ID soldiers returning from this deployment.
The first group returned on July 13. “It's always a great day when our soldiers come home,” said
Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general. “These soldiers did
an outstanding job and we're glad they're all back safe and sound.” Approximately 150 soldiers of the division deployed in July 2007 to become
the headquarters unit for Task Force Falcon, a multinational peacekeeping
force that was part of KFOR-9. The 35th Infantry Division served as the
lead element of multi-national task force east (MNTF-E). The 35th ID assumed
control of operations in MNTF-E in November 2007 at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.
The task force was under the command of Brig. Gen. John E. Davoren; Sgt.
Maj. Timothy Cochran was command sergeant major. The task force included
approximately 1,500 soldiers from the U.S. Army active component, Army
National Guard and Army Reserve. The 35th Division is one of eight divisions in the Army National Guard and is made up of Guardsmen from Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. -30- |
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