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CONTACT:
Sharon Watson
Director, Public Affairs Office
Work: (785) 274-1192
Cell: (785) 806-4063
http://www.Kansas.gov/ksadjutantgeneral

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      Oct. 8, 2008

No. 08-109A

WELCOME HOME CEREMONY TO BE HELD FOR KANSAS NATIONAL GUARD UNIT

Approximately 130 National Guardsmen of the 1161st Forward Support Company, Hutchinson, will be welcomed home from their deployment to Iraq during a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 10.

The ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, 700 East 11th. The doors will open at 12 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

It's great to have these soldiers back home," said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the Adjutant General. "I'm proud of their hard work and dedication during this deployment, and I'm grateful for the support their families and friends provided them throughout their time away."

The 1161st FSC deployed as part of the 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery, Kansas National Guard. The unit deployed in late November 2007 to Fort Bliss, Texas, for pre-mobilization training prior to going to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in January 2008. Their mission in Iraq included force protection and convoy escorts for combat logistics patrols. They provided over 95,000 collective hours of perimeter security and conducted over 100 combat logistics patrols. The unit also conducted joint training with their Iraqi Army counterparts.

The rest of the unit with soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Wichita; Battery A, Dodge City; and Battery C, Kingman, will be welcomed home in a ceremony scheduled for a later date in October in Wichita. More information on this ceremony will be sent out later.

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